The School of Turf Wars
by pgasniper
Summary: Four Inklings, Ink, Ika, Levi, and Kelp, form a squad to get to the top of Inkopolis Private Academy's Turf War club.
1. Prologue 1: 3 Veterans

**Notes: Well, I wanted to do something away from my usual Smash Bros fare. So, yeah Splatoon! So far the best game of 2015, that I've played. (We'll see if that holds when I get my hands on Xenoblade Chronicles X)  
**

* * *

Prologue 1: 3 Veterans

"Ink, I've got you covered!" A voice said over an earpiece. The faint line of the laser sight passed by his head. He just nodded.

"Understood. I'm going to continue." He began to run towards enemy territory. It was already inked and covered with the enemies ink. Ink just held his N-ZAP '85 in front of him and shooting .

"Someone may be hiding in there, do you have a full Echolocator charge yet?" Someone asked.

"No. It's about half full." Ink replied, checking a watch that displayed a meter. "I'm going to risk it."

He just began shooting and spreading his ink across the enemies ink. He turned a corner and, then someone jumped out of the ink, and swung down their roller, splatting him.

When Ink had recovered and spawned at the spawn point, he quickly rushed back to the center area.

The inkling with the roller was frighteningly good. He knew when to retreat. When he was surrounded, he turned into a kraken and just quickly splatted the three of the attackers.

It quickly became no surprise when they lost.

"Damn it!" Ink shouted frustrated. He just looked at his team mates. He couldn't, and wouldn't blame them, they were just two random people, who were just there and they had teamed up with. There was also his twin sister Ika. But none of them were to blame. That roller was just too good.

"If only..." In his head he was constantly going through the possibilities of what he could have done differently. Trying to find some way that he could of approached it that would have lead to their victory.

It seemed to affect him into their next match. At the conclusion of that match, his sister just turned to him. "Hey, bro-bro, want to just call it a day?"

"Yeah, you're right." Ink sighed. "I'm tired, I think I need to go to sleep."

Ika just nodded. "Good call."

He just let off a small chuckle, knowing that she was probably going to drag him away by force anyways.

* * *

Ink was now dressed in a school uniform. A black jacket, with a white dress shirt, along with a cream colored sweater, and then a blue tie, that matched his blue hair. He was walking to school, however he was lagging behind his sister who was dressed in a similar uniform. The only differences being that she had a plaid skirt, and an orange tie to match her orange hair.

"Are you still thinking about our defeat?" His sister asked.

"Yeah." Ink sighed. "Just how could we be so weak Ika?"

"Well, you should know there are a lot of strong people, and that person was well versed in Turf War combat!" Ika said. "They knew where I was, and had avoided being in my sight the whole time, even though I don't think anyone on the other team had an Echolocater."

Ink just nodded. "I just feel so stupid for walking into that trap, and urgh..."

"Well, you better cheer up bro-bro." Ika said, with a smile across her face. "School's right around the corner."

Ink just froze, that did little to actually reassure him. He looked at the giant building, Inkopolis Private Academy. "I feel like skipping today." He said.

"Your attendance is all ready poor enough." Ika reminded him. "They'll take you off of the Turf War teams."

"I'm a spare anyways." Ink sighed. "And, they can't stop me from doing normal turf wars..."

"But I can." Ika replied. "If you don't go, I'll stop being your partner, and then you'll have to try and find 3 random people to form a team with. Or just go with some random people. Have I made myself clear?"

"Crystal." Ink replied.

"Okay, I'll see you later bro-bro!" Ika said, before running off.

Ink just made his way up to the school and through the hallways, to his locker. He just opened it and grabbed a few books before closing it. He made his way up to the Turf War Club's club room. Currently he was the only one in here. He imagined the club captain had just stepped out, otherwise she would be in here working on stuff.

He just sat down at a large table, on it there were a few magazines along with a new copy of _Splat Power._ He glanced at the cover, and read the various headlines. 'Five tips to improve your Turf War game', 'Interview with the Team Apex', 'The brand new Tri-Slosher! Three times the extra Slosh!'

Having some time to kill he decided to read the magazine. Mostly just focusing on the article about the the brand new Tri-Slosher. He just glanced at his wrist. "I probably can't use them either." Ink muttered to himself.

He continued reading through it, laughing at the tips presented for improving your game during a Turf War. "No duh." He laughed.

But soon his peace and quiet was disrupted. He could soon hear the loud noises of a group of people talking, making their way through the hallway and towards the club room. As they entered, Ink just looked up, and looked rather annoyed. A group of four other inklings had come into the room. They just all froze and looked at Ink.

"Oh, it looks like he's here." One said.

"Careful, I hear there's some rollers hiding in the storage closet." Another taunted.

Ink just did his best to ignore them. In front of him was one of the 10 Regular Squads at Inkopolis Private Academy.

"How do you think you can get into the regulars if that's how you do a turf war." One laughed.

"He won't, he's just going to stay as a spare for the rest of his school days."

"And he has some delusions of being a professional!"

"I think he even reads that trash thinking he'll get better."

Ink didn't react to any of their taunts, instead he just stood up, he looked at the closet. "You said there was a roller in there?" He asked. They just nodded. He went over to it, and opened the door. Inside was an assorted amount of crap that they were either trying to hide, or had no where else to put, it just carelessly tossed across the room. Ink soon saw the roller hanging on the wall. He just took it off of the wall, and inspected it. "A carbon roller. It's much lighter, and with my wrist, I probably can actually use this..."

He just glanced at the four of them. They were continuing with their taunts. "Careful, there might be a roller hiding behind the desk."

Ink just cracked a small smile, now knowing that they had indeed seen his rather embarrassing moment. He looked at the carbon roller in his hand. All it would take was 2 seconds and he could set the record straight with it. But the immediate suspension from school, and most likely the expulsion from the club didn't seem worth it.

He just put the carbon roller back and turned to face them and just walked out of the room. The taunts died down and he just made his way to his first class, and took his seat. He soon realized that he had stolen the _Splat Power_ magazine from the club room. "I'll just return it during lunch, or after school..." He muttered. He opened it up and just decided to read a bit more, this time reading the article on the squad known as Apex. A professional Squad consisting of four members: Cetus, Leviathan, Hydra, and Siren.

Ink couldn't help but laugh, he couldn't help but think those were aliases meant to strike fear into their opponents.

The first bell rang, and Ink just placed the magazine into his bag. Slowly, inklings began to trickle in to the classroom. It was followed by the second bell, and the morning announcements. When all that was done, the class came to the realization that the teacher wasn't there. Some inklings just began to talk with their neighbors, discussing how their weekend was. A few got up and looked out into the hall, looking to see if the teacher was there. One had pulled out a bucket filled with ink and put it on top of the door, so that it would fall as soon as she walked through the door.

A few minutes later she walked in. However, much to everyone's shock, the bucket didn't fall. She had just opened it a little bit more, so she could fit, she didn't even bother to close the door. "All rise." the class president said. "Bow."

As they sat down, the teacher just looked at all of them. "Today we have a new student." She said. "You can come in."

Everyone's head turned to face the door. It began to open more, and everything played out in slow motion. The new student walked in, and the bucket began to fall. The bucket and ink fell all over the new student, and the class burst out into laughter. Even the teacher couldn't help but laugh. The new student stood there frozen, not even bothering to take off the bucket. He was probably trying to hide because of embarrassment.

Eventually he took off the bucket and just placed it on the ground. He had green hair, that was tied up into a top knot, the same style that every fresh inkling had. The blue ink that was in the bucket just drenched him. He walked over to the teacher's desk and put down a briefcase, opening it and just pulling out a special towel. Ink recognized it as one that was made of special fibers made to absorb ink, used in cleaning and repair of turf war equipment. After he cleaned of his face and the majority of the uniform he just faced the class.

"Hello, my name is Levi." He said, trying to sound cheery, but it was quite clear that he was seething with rage.

"You can sit down beside Ink." The Teacher said.

Ink just rose his hand, not even bothering to pay attention to the person, as he walked over to the empty seat beside him. They exchanged a few words, and class began as scheduled. Ink just put his head down onto the desk, and just ignored the teacher's droning on about something.

"Bored?" Levi whispered.

"Yeah." Ink replied. "Slightly."

"So, just between you and me, do you know who put that bucket up there?" Levi asked.

"That depends on what you're going to do with that information." Ink replied.

"I haven't decided yet." Levi replied. "Depends if this is going to be a repeat occurrence."

"Well, he pulls pranks on everyone, his original target was the teacher." Ink replied. "My guess is from how she entered into the classroom, she figured something was wrong. But the person you're looking for is third row, fourth seat."

Levi just turned his head and found the student. "Target locked. Thanks, Ink. You know, I almost didn't recognize you." Levi chuckled. "You're really different during a Turf War. I guess the uniform helps too..."

For the first time, Ink actually looked at his new neighbor. He suddenly realized that he had seen him before. In fact, this inkling was the very same inkling that had used the roller.

"YOU!" Ink shouted, jumping out of his seat, "ITS YOU!?" He was just pointing towards Levi. And then he remembered where he was. The entire class was just staring at him. He looked around to see the glares and students bursting out into laughter. "Sorry." He quickly apologized, sitting back down.

Soon class was over, and everyone was exiting from the room. "Hey, since I'm new here, and don't know my way around, would you like to help me?" Levi asked.

Ink just nodded, taking the schedule. "Oh, sorry." He apologized. "It would appear that we only have our first period and our lunch period at the same time. I can at least lead you to your next class."

"Okay, that's fine, and we can meet up during lunch, okay?" Levi said.

Ink just nodded. They went their separate ways. However, when Ink turned around, he bumped right into another Inkling. They both knocked each other down.

"Sorry!" Ink was quick to apologize. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

The other Inkling got up after picking up his phone off of the ground. "I'm sorry." He apologized, he was about a head shorter than Ink. "Neither was I."

* * *

For Ink, the next two classes went by painfully slowly. Particularly because he shared those classes with two of the people from that one Ranked Squad in the school. He had to endure various papers, and spit balls being sent towards him.

Ink didn't really understand why they were so antagonistic towards him. After all, they were only ranked 9th, and it wasn't like they were any good. They had no balance. Ika and her charger would easily have a field day with them.

But at the end of his third period, he met up with Levi, and they made their way to the cafeteria. They bought whatever slop was being passed up as food, and then made their way outside.

"How were your other classes?" Levi asked.

Ink just shrugged. "Boring, I guess. Getting annoyed at some idiots sending spitballs my way." Levi just nodded. "Yours?"

"Just introduced myself to the classes, sat down wherever the teacher wanted me to." Levi replied. "Asked a bit about the Turf War club, and didn't exactly get a good answer. So maybe you can explain."

"Yeah..." Ink sighed. "Well, we've got a Turf War club but due to how many people are in it, there are 10 regular teams. The top five are the Regulars, and the other five are reserve, everyone else are spares. If you join, you're put onto the spare side, unless you make a squad and."

"How do you get from Reserve to Regular?" Levi wondered.

"Well, either you're chosen by one of the teams if one of the members dropped out, or was kicked out by the school, or you form your own squad, and then you have to fight and work your way up."

"And where are you?" Levi wondered. "You've got to be on one of the regular teams, right?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a spare." Ink admitted.

Levi just looked shocked. "What? Why?! Was yesterday just a complete and total fluke?"

"I just haven't made a squad." Ink admitted. "I thought I'd be picked up by a squad, but that didn't happen. There's so much politics involved."

"Politics?" Levi wondered.

"They'd rather choose their friends. Rather than what they would benefit from and strengthen their team." Ink replied.

Levi just nodded. "I understand that." He said. They ate their lunch in peace, up until the squad that had been terrorizing Ink found him.

"Well, well, well." A voice said. Ink just let off a heavy sigh. "We found him, and it looks like he's with the new kid."

"You mean the lair." Another said. "Saying that he knows the Squid Sisters. What a load."

"Just trying to pull the whole 'I'm fresh, and can fit in.' routine." Another said.

"Go away guys." Ink said, glaring at them.

"Or what?" One taunted.

"I don't know, I just may challenge you to a turf war." Ink replied.

The four of them just laughed. "We're ranked, you aren't!"

"You're only the ninth ranked team." Ink replied. "You're reserve, and practically on the cutting list!"

"What was that?" One said.

Ink just glared at them. "I said you're a bunch two dimensional, bullies, and cannon fodder. You suck at Turf Wars. And I'm sick and tired of this. I'll take you and your squad down, and take your ranked team's position. Or maybe you're just afraid!"

"Fine, we'll accept your challenge." One said. "Tonight, after school. However, if you lose, you're going to have to quit the Turf War club. Good luck with finding 3 others before the end of the day!"

They just went off laughing. Levi just laughed. "Well, I'm glad I'm hanging around with you, it looks like there will never be a dull moment."

Ink just laughed. "Sorry about that, I guess I got carried away."

Levi just laughed. "Nah that's okay."

"It's just, since I fought you yesterday, my mind has been only on that." Ink admitted. "What if I did something differently, would we have won?"

"Probably." Levi replied. "I was kind of carrying that team."

"Well, now I need to form a squad by the end of the day." Ink said. "Levi, we just met and everything, so it might be a bit too much to ask, but can you join?"

"Yeah, sure." Levi laughed. "I was thinking of joining the Turf War club anyways, and this way, if we win, I get to fast track straight to being a regular member."

"Well, reserve, but I'm sure the two of us can quickly move up." Ink replied. "Okay, so two more."

"If only we had that Charger from your team yesterday..." Levi said.

Ink just looked at Levi. "We do, she's my sister. Just let me inform her." He replied. He just pulled out his cell phone and texted something over. There was a few minutes of brief texting back and forth. To pass the time, Levi just went and began doing something on his phone. Eventually Ink just looked up from his phone and had a smile across his face. "It's done. She's ready. So now we need one more..."

"Any ideas?" Levi asked. "Hate to say it, but sorry I'm new here."

Ink just fell back and lied on the ground. "Sorry, I don't really know anyone else." He said. "I guess if worst comes to worst, we could get a spare member or something. But for right now, there's a more pressing matter that needs to be dealt with."

"And that is?" Levi wondered.

"You know the Squid Sisters?!" Ink said rather surprised. "Or was it just a lie?"

Levi just smiled. "Yep, I know them." He said. "I can prove it!" He just reached into his bag and pulled out a CD. Ink just looked at it in shock.

"No way!" He said surprised. "This doesn't release until next week!"

Levi just nodded. "And that's not all." He said, pulling out the booklet from the jewel case. From the inside was the autograph of the two.

"Thanks for all your help." it read. And underneath was undoubtedly the signatures of Callie and Marie, the Squid Sisters.

"What did you help them with?" Ink asked, rather interested.

"Sorry, secret." Levi replied. "You know how all those famous people are, that and I had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement."

Ink just smiled. "Okay, I believe you." He said.

The bell rang to signify the end of lunch, and the two just went their separate ways.

The final two classes had been long and hard for a different reason all together. News of Ink challenging the Ranked 9 team had made it around the school very quickly.

A bit too quickly for his liking. He always caught the tail end of the conversations that the Turf War was happening after school. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel that people were getting too hyped up for it.

There were whispers as soon as he entered the classroom. He sat at his desk and tried to think of who the fourth person on his squad would be.

A few people actually approached him.

"Hey is it true you challenged Aven's squad?" Someone asked.

"Yeah." Ink replied. "After school, we're going to have our fight. We're short one person, would you like to help us?"

But they would immediately back away. Ink just sighed. "Right, politics." He would remind himself. After all, even if they were only ranked 9th, you'd have to be crazy, stupid, or completely ignorant to fight with Aven's squad. Ink swore the only reason why Aven was able to form a squad and was one of the 10 ranked teams was because his father was a big sponsor of Inkopolis Private Academy.

Other conversations seemed a bit weird too. "Are you really having a Turf War with him?"

"Yes?"

"Just how did you do it?" One asked.

Ink just blinked a few times confused. "I asked him?"

"That's really all it took?"

"Yeah?"

"Amazing!"

Ink was just left completely confused as to whether they were having the same conversation.

But soon, the end of the day came, and he walked down to the club room. Or at least tried to, crowds and crowds of inklings were lining the hallways, making their way to the stadium that had the school's Turf War field. " _This is strange..._ " Ink thought to himself. " _There's never this many people watching other Turf Wars when they happen with the club..._ "

Eventually he made it to the club room.

Waiting for him there was Ika. Aven, and his goons were also there. There were also a few other ranked groups there, along with a few spare members. The ranked members were glaring, and not amused at this. He figured they probably took it as a direct attack, and were afraid of how this was going to play out. Would they lose all their power that they had to this newly cobbled together team?

"So, it's us, and who else did you manage to get?" Ika asked, either not noticing the mood, or she didn't care. Probably the latter.

Ink just looked around. "Come to think of it, I guess he doesn't know where the club room is..." He said. He just quickly poked his head out into the hall and just outside the room was Levi, who trying to make heads or tails of the map of the school.

"Sorry!" He quickly apologized. "This place is too confusing. Even with help."

Levi went into the club room, and looked around at the various people standing there. "Here's our third." Ink said.

"We know. You need four for a squad." One of the higher ranked teams said, with a rather large amount of hostility in his voice.

"I tried asking around." Ink replied. "However, well, no one would agree to help us. So, I'm hoping one of the spare members would be willing to join my team." Ink just waited. He imagined in the time that it took for Ika to get there, the Ranked teams talked with the spare members who were there, and they were to not volunteer to join them. And as expected, no one stepped forwards.

"Well, if you don't have 4 people for a squad, you can't fight." One said.

"You're telling us that after there's a huge crowd now out around the stadium?" Levi said.

They rushed to a window, and opened the blinds, sure enough practically the whole school was around the stadium in the bleachers, waiting for a fight. For some reason, there was also a camera crew that looked like it was from the local news. There were even outsiders there. Other Inklings from other schools, adults. Jellyfish. The Regulars were a bit shocked at this. "What's going on?"

"You haven't checked Squider recently, have you?" Levi said.

A bunch rushed to a nearby computer. Others pulled out their cell phones. "What's going on? Why is Inkopolis Private Academy trending?"

Ink just looked up at Levi and then down at his phone, and then back up at Levi once again. He just grabbed Levi, and pulled him into the storage closet, leaving everyone extremely confused. A few seconds later Ink opened the door. "Ika, you too, team meeting."

Ika just rushed in to the closet, and they closed the door. "Ink, what's going on?"

Ink was just looking right at Levi. "Just who are you? You said your name was Levi."

"Yep." Levi replied. "Although, I never did say that it was short for Leviathan."

Ink just laughed. "I should have made the connection. I was too focused on yesterday and the match and, urgh." he just let out a bunch of frustrated groans. "I even read that article in _Splat Power_! I should have known it just wasn't for this match."

"Just, what's going on?" Ika said a bit confused.

"I really hate you right now." Ink said.

"Ink, you're not explaining things again." Ika said.

Ink just tossed his cell phone right to Ika. "Start at the bottom and read up." Ink said. She caught it and began to read over the squider feed.

* * *

 **Leviathan Apex-** First day at #InkopolisPrivateAcademy  
 **Leviathan Apex-** I wonder what the #TurfwarClub is like here. #InkopolisPrivateAcademy  
 **Leviathan Apex-** This uniform is so uncomfortable. I can't breath.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** First class... Boo :(  
 **Leviathan Apex-** I just met someone, he's super friendly. Unfortunately we only have our first class together.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Class 2... was seated up front boo :(  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Class 3... Lunch is after this...  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Food looks awful. At least it's nice outside.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Person I was eating lunch with just challenged someone to a #TurfWar. #InkopolisPrivateAcademy  
 **Leviathan Apex-** It's against a ranked team within #InkopolisPrivateAcademy. I wonder how good they are.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** He asked me to help him. I don't think he knows who I actually am.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** We just need one more person to make a squad  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Class 4... boo... People are whispering about the match.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** I think I just heard people in the hall talking. Did I just hear my name? Hehehe.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Class 5. Art! Yay! Today is almost done, can't wait until the end of this class.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** So many people here are good artists. Here's what I drew.  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Class is over, everyone is talking about the #TurfWar  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Just went to check the stadium, and it's packed...  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Uh oh... this might be my fault...  
 **Leviathan Apex-** Crap, can't find the club room.

* * *

Ika just looked up from the screen and tossed the phone back to Ink. "And what was I supposed to be looking at?"

Ink just looked at his sister rather annoyed. "The name for starters?" He said. "Leviathan, Apex? Doesn't that ring a bell?"

She just shrugged.

"You know the professional team..." Ink said.

"I guess I probably should have deleted that Apex part from the handle, since I'm no longer in it." Levi sighed.

They just looked at him a bit shocked. "You're no longer in it?"

"I kind of quit because of reasons." Levi replied. "Politics, and I couldn't attend here if I was on the team."

"Great..." Ink sighed. "A former professional player is on our squad."

"Don't you mean, our squad is composed of three former professional players." Levi said.

Both Ink and Ika just went white. "What?" Ink said.

"The brother sister twin team Ink and Ika." Levi replied. "Come on, how many squids will have those names. Let alone be twins. When I saw those names yesterday, I did a double take, and then had to confirm it myself. I was a bit shocked though. Ink wasn't a roller, and Ika wasn't a shooter."

Ink just grabbed his wrist. "Yeah that's us." Ink admitted. "Can we not talk about this now... we have a Turf War to fight."

"Fine." Levi said. "But when we're done, I want the full story."

They walked out of the storage room. Everyone was just glaring at them. "So, you went and got a professional player to hide behind." Aven said.

The cat was out of the bag now.

"Former professional." Levi pointed out. "I had to quit to join this school."

"Isn't there rules, or something that says that they can't fight amateurs?" Someone said.

"But if he quit, then there's nothing that really is stopping him." Another added on.

"Well, there are people out there expecting a show." Another said. "I say, we allow it, just void the ranking match."

A bunch seemed to all agree on that. "No." One person said, and all pressure was suddenly on them, but she was mostly unaffected by their attempt at intimidating her. She was the student council president, the captain of the Turf War Club, and the leader of the first ranked team at Inkopolis Private Acadamy, Naomi Nori. "I don't think that would be fair to Levi, if he's been told that he can't participate in our school club activities, while there has been another former professional player in the club this whole time."

Everything in the room crashed to a halt. "What?" Everyone shouted.

"Who?"

"He might not of been as prolific as Levi, however, he was still a professional player." Naomi said.

"Who is it?"

"He's also involved in this Turf War." Naomi said. "Ink."

The focus had turned back to Ink. "What?" Aven shouted. "He was a former professional?"

"Yes." Naomi said.

"Then why did you allow this?"

"He said he would willingly join the spares, and just help out, he had no intention of becoming a ranked member." Naomi replied. "And I was curious, I wanted to see if people would connect the dots. Not to mention, when he joined, he had a wrist injury."

Ink just nodded. "Yes, and although it hasn't fully healed, I'm ready to begin fighting again."

"Wrist injury?" Aven said a bit surprised.

"In his professional career, Ink was a roller." Naomi explained.

"I hurt my wrist one day to try and splat some inklings, and well, it ended badly." Ink said. "I had to retire after that. I could still do Turf Wars and stuff, so that's why I became shooter instead. There was very little weight and strain put on the wrist."

"So, that's that."

"Still, you don't have a fourth person to help your squad." Naomi said. "Even with the three of you and your skill, our regulations are that it has to be a group of four versus four."

"So, we just need a spare member then, right?" Ink said. "Come on, one of you guys want to help us?"

However there was just silence. No one stepped forwards to be on the team.

"Figures." Ink laughed. It was to be expected. No one would want to join. If they did, they'd be in the shadows of those three. 'Reserve' was basically a code word for 'replace with whoever', no one would want to join.

There was suddenly a knocking at the door, every head just turned to face it, and it slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a rather small, and timid looking male inkling. Ink actually recognized him as the one he had bumped into earlier in the day. Everyone was just looking at him, making him even more nervous.

"Is something wrong?" Naomi asked, with a rather uncharacteristic smile across her face. Any time Ink saw her, she was hard, and cold. There was the odd moment with the new members where she was inviting. But with this Inkling, she was talking with a bit of softness that went beyond that.

"Um, well..." He just looked around the room. "I... Um... well..."

"Spit it out, we don't have all day." Aven said.

"Hey, leave the kid alone." Ink said. "He's clearly afraid and intimidated by all of us."

Levi just stepped right over to the kid and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "It's okay, just take a deep breath and try again. And if you're having difficulty saying it, why don't you type it out." He suggested.

The kid nodded. "Thank you." He said. "I, I would like to join the Turf War club!"

Everyone just stared at him. Ika was the first to react. "Well, in that case. There's just a small test you have to do. It's just a small Turf War, and we were just trying to get a fourth member."

"Ika-" Ink was quick to protest, however Levi just quickly covered his mouth.

"Dude, shut up." Levi whispered. "No one else is going to join us. This could be our only chance to get a fourth teammate." Ink just nodded.

"Okay, I'll do it!" The kid said before anyone else could react.

"Great kid." Levi laughed. "You're on our side then."

Naomi just smiled, rather amused by it. Clearly the most frustrated was Aven. "Just what is this farce!" He shouted out frustrated.

"It's not a farce." Ink replied. "It's a Turf War. Now, anything else that has to be said can be said in the field. Due to someone we've got a large audience that we need to entertain."

"Well then, I guess we better go get changed into our uniforms then." Levi said, just slapping his hand across the kid's back. "Okay."

He just nodded a bit nervous. And they made their way down to a changing room.

Aven just glared at Naomi. "You're letting this happen?" He said rather frustrated.

She just smiled. "Yep."

"Why?! If they beat us, they could go after you next." Aven said.

Naomi just nodded. "Yes, that's they way it works."

"But you could veto it, as the club president you have the power." Aven said.

Naomi just smiled. "But why would I want to do that?" She asked. "Especially when my little brother has finally decided to start doing Turf Wars."

"What?!"

* * *

At the change rooms, Ika went in first, to quickly get changed, since the kid hadn't exactly brought his gym clothes and had to run to his locker to go get them. After Ika exited, the three boys went in and just began to change. The school's gym uniform was just a plain gray t-shirt, that had the school's crest across the center. And then the gym shorts were just loose navy shorts.

However, Levi wasn't changing into his gym clothes. "Hey, I thought you told us to change into our gym clothes."

"Yeah, I don't have any yet." Levi replied. "And I had intended to check out the turf war club anyways... so I kind of brought this."

He was in a form fitting black jacket with a large collar that went up past his chin. Around that was a bright yellow vest. On his back left hip there were two little trinkets.

With all of them changed, they walked out of the changing room and met up with Ika, and made their way to the stadium. They could hear the cries of the rather impatient people that got here. To at least entertain them, a few of the squads had been doing some exhibition matches. However, it was quite clear that they were frustrated, with not seeing what they actually came here to see.

Looking even more frustrated than the crowd was Aven, and his squad. They had their weapons chosen and were going to get ready.

"All right, before we go any further, I think we need a strategy meeting." Levi said. "And I guess introductions are in order. I don't think 'kid' is really going to cut it, you know."

"Oh. Right." The kid laughed. "I've just been so nervous, I forgot to introduce myself to everyone else. I'm Kelp!"

"Ink."

"Ika."

"And I'm Levi. I'll be using a roller in this upcoming battle. Ink, I'm assuming you're a shooter, and Ika is a Charger, just like yesterday."

"Yeah, that's probably the best way to do it." Ika said.

"So, what are you, Kelp?" Levi asked.

Kelp just looked at them a bit confused. "Um... well... I've never done a turf war before... so I don't know..."

"What?!" Levi said a bit shocked.

"If it's just regular Turf War rules, we should be fine then." Ika said. "We can press on ahead, cut them off, and he can stay back and ink everything we miss as we hold off the other squad."

"Yeah, that can work." Ink said. "Except, Ika. Can you do a big favor for me."

"And what's that?"

"Now that they know about my wrist injury, I just have a feeling that they're going to target it."

"So you want me to cover you, like I always do?" Ika asked.

"No, something else." Ink replied. "Can we talk about it elsewhere?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Ika said.

Ink just nodded. "Thanks."

"And while you guys are talking about your secret strategy, I'm going to get Kelp outfitted with a weapon." Levi said.

They just all nodded and quickly separated.

* * *

 **And... Prologue 1 done! Up next Prologue 2 and Kelp's side of the events.  
**


	2. Prologue 2: 1 Rookie

Prologue 2: 1 Rookie

Kelp Nori just looked at himself in the mirror. He was in his rather uncomfortable school uniform. It had been about a month since he started going to Inkopolis Private Academy, and in that time the uniform hadn't gotten any more comfortable. It was still stiff, and rather itchy in a few spots, despite it going through the wash a few times. He just took his cell phone, that had been plugged in and charging and stuffed it into his pocket.

He walked out of his room and into the kitchen. His older sister, Naomi, was making some breakfast over the stove. "Morning Kepkep. Mom has all ready left for work." Naomi said, as she placed the food on a plate and handed it over to Klep. She sat down and the two ate in silence.

When they were done, and Kelp had finished cleaning the dishes, Naomi spoke to her brother once again.

"I've got club activities so, I'm going to be late coming home today." Naomi said.

Kelp just nodded. "Okay."

"You know Kepkep, you really should join a club." Naomi said. "You'll make some new friends, and I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself."

"Nah." Kelp replied. "The going home club is good enough for me."

Naomi just nodded. "If you say so."

They walked to school. Kelp actually was keeping a bit of distance away from his big sister. He didn't really mind being around her that much, but she already had so much to do without having to worry about her little brother, or her friends teasing her about him.

He did like his sister after all. Just she was a bit annoying with the constant asking if he would join a school club. He wasn't like her, he liked staying out of the spotlight and being safe and secure. Meanwhile, she was the school president, and the club president of the Turf War club, arguably she was the most powerful student in the school. How she managed that, he had no idea.

He got to the school and just made it to his locker. Waiting there was his best friend. "Yo! Kelp!"

"Hey Kale!" Kelp replied.

Kale was dressed in the school uniform. Although right now, he currently didn't have the vest underneath the jacket. His tie was rather loose, and his dress shirt was untucked. He had purple hair.

"Had a good weekend?" Kale wondered.

Kelp just nodded. "Yep, a lot of hours logged in Calamari of Duty." He replied. "I finally got out of B+ rank hell."

"For real this time?"

"Yeah."

"That's great squid. See that big news though?" Kale asked.

Kelp just blinked a few times. "Big news?"

Kale just sighed. "You were playing Calamari of Duty all weekend, weren't you?"

"Well, there was a bit where I was working on the project that was due." Kelp replied. "But other than that..."

"You haven't even checked Squider, have you?"

"Nope." Kelp replied. Kale just glared at him, until he pulled out his cellphone and brought up Squider. But he was just seeing random posts by the celebrities he followed. "Let's see, the Squid Sister's next CD is released next week... Yeah, I'm not really seeing any big news, want to spill it?"

"Leviathan quit Apex." Kale replied.

"What?!" Kelp shouted out in surprise. "That's insane! Why?"

Kale just shrugged. "No idea. But rumors on the inknet are saying that it might be another scandal, just like the last time."

Kelp just laughed. "Yeah right. Maybe he just found it too stuffy or something."

Despite not participating in Turf Wars himself, Kelp religiously followed the team Apex. Apex was actually one of the newer Squads who had been quickly raising up the ranks and making a name for themselves. The only actual bump in the road was a scandal a couple of months ago, that saw the release of one of their chargers.

"I wonder if he's actually said something." Kelp said. He found Leviathan's own Squider account, and just stared at the three most recent posts.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- First day at #InkopolisPrivateAcademy  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- I wonder what the #TurfwarClub is like here. #InkopolisPrivateAcademy  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- This uniform is so uncomfortable. I can't breath.

Kelp just began to look around the hallways rather frantically. "What's wrong squid?" Kale asked. Kelp just quickly shoved his phone right into Kale's face, who began to read through it. "What?!"

Kelp was about to run through the halls to look for Leviathan, however the first bell rang. Kelp just frantically looked through the halls. "Should I skip?" Kelp quickly began to ask. "To look for him?"

"If this is true, and he's here, he's probably attending class." Kale said. "And you probably don't want to come across as a creepy stalker."

Kelp stood there and thought about it for several seconds. "Yeah, you're right." He weakly laughed. "Somehow, I doubt I'm going to be the only person looking for him too. He might want to hide."

Kale just nodded. "Yeah well, we better get to class."

They went to their classrooms. Kelp just sat down, hoping that by some miracle, Leviathan would come through the door and join their class. But, that wasn't meant to be. As the teacher droned on, Kelp just drew in his notes, occasionally checking his phone, or rather stalking Leviathan through what he posted on Squider.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- First class... Boo :(

Kelp at least took a bit of joy in knowing that somewhere out there in the school, Leviathan was there, and probably suffering as much as him. Perhaps a bit bored, he decided to actually message him.

 **Kepkep** \- OffLeviathan Can't be that bad.

He just put his phone aside for a few moments, and tried to pay attention to class. But his phone vibrated.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Kepkep It really is, and I'm a month behind everyone else too... :(

He quickly responded.

 **Kepkep** \- OffLeviathan Oh, that really sucks. What class?

He had to stop himself from smiling. He kind of wanted to meet and help him. But those hopes were kind of doused when he remembered that the only class he was actually any good at was art.

 **Leviathan Apex-** Kepkep Eh... I think Science. LOL.

Kelp let out a small chuckle. Ah well, it was worth a try. He silently told himself.

 **Kepkep** \- OffLeviathan Oh, I'm no good at that. Can't help you there.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Kepkep Well, I had all ready planned for this and I've all ready got a few tutors lined up to help me catch up

Kelp just nodded. It made sense. The bell rang and he packed up his stuff and began to walk through the halls. Glancing down at his phone, and thinking of a response to give to Leviathan. He wanted to keep this conversation going.

Unfortunately, Kelp wasn't looking at where he was going, and bumped into someone. The two of them fell down to the ground. Kelp lost his grip on his phone and quickly went to pick it up.

He got up and was staring at the other inkling. "Sorry." He said. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I'm sorry." Kelp apologized, rather intimidated by the other inklings size. He was only about a head taller, but still, Kelp didn't want to be on anyone's bad side "Neither was I."

The two of them just went their separate ways. Kelp just rushed into the room, rather flustered and embarrassed about it. There were a few other students all ready sitting down. He made his way to his seat, and once again began to hope that Leviathan would walk through the door. But such a thing didn't happen.

"Hey, squid!" Kale said. "Saw you using Squider during the last class."

Kelp just nodded. "Yeah..."

"Trying to become friends with Leviathan?" Kale teased.

"Am I that transparent?" Kelp replied.

"Yep."

Soon the second period began. For the most part, Kelp was actually focused on this class. It was history, and they were currently going over the great Turf War. He glanced down at his phone and saw that Leviathan had posted two more times.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- I just met someone, he's super friendly. Unfortunately we only have our first class together.  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- Class 2... was seated up front boo :(

He just quickly replied.

 **Kepkep** \- OffLeviathan What's your second period?

He just waited for a response, but figured with him being up front in whatever class, there was no way he could discretely respond. As such, he couldn't help but pay attention to the lesson and the teacher, Mr. Rehcaet.

"The Great Turf War almost came to an end when the barbaric Octarians attacked with the Great Octoweapons, upon the central stronghold of the Inkling's forces. Fortunately, those idiots made it run off of electricity, and be powered by a single cord."

"Mr. Rehcaet, what are the Great Octoweapons?" A student asked.

Mr. Rehcaet just switched an overhead slide and there were four rough sketches. Kelp silently laughed, as he knew he could draw better.

"These are the four great Octoweapons." Mr. Rehcaet said. "Created with the sole purpose of spreading their disgusting ink. The Mighty Octostomp! The Dreaded Octonozzle! The Rampaging Octowhirl! And the Ravenous Octomaw!"

There was just a laugh from the front of the class. Everywhere else, there was just dead silence. "Young man, what's so funny?" Mr. Rehcaet asked.

"They look nothing like the Octoweapons." He said.

There was just silence. Mr. Rechaet was rather infamous in that you didn't interrupt his class, or question his drawings.

"And how would you know? It wasn't like you were there 100 years ago fighting them, were you?" Mr. Rechaet asked.

"Were you?" The student asked.

The room went so silent you could hear a pin drop. Mr. Rechaet was furious. "Get out." Was all he said.

The student just stood up. "Yeah, fine." He said, grabbing his stuff and walking out the room.

The rest of the period was spent in silence. Mr. Rehcaet just told them to read through pages 60-70 in their text book.

Soon that class was over, Kelp was now on his lunch period. At Inkopolis Private School, there were two lunch periods. You either started the day and had two periods, and then Lunch, and then three periods after Lunch, or three periods at the start of the day, lunch and then two more periods.

As he was eating his lunch he pulled out his cell phone and saw a response from Leviathan.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Kepkep History. Bleh. Kind of already know everything about the great turf war.

Perhaps because it was just fresh in his mind, it was the first thing he thought about. He had been told multiple times by his sister that he had no mental filter. He would say something and then immediately regretted it. This was one of those times.

 **Kepkep** \- OffLeviathan like what the great Octoweapons look like?

He just laughed at the joke, and quickly began to read Leviathan's update.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Class 3... Lunch is after this...

Kelp was a bit disappointed that he didn't have the same lunch. A few seconds later his phone shook. He went to check the message, and just froze in horror.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Kepkep who are you? And how do you know that?

From the text alone, Kelp could feel hostility. Suddenly things clicked in Kelp's mind. He began to get extremely paranoid that he just ruined any chances of meeting him.

 **Kepkep** \- OffLeviathan Wait? That was you?! We're in the same class! I was sitting in the back! But seriously, those drawings were horrible.

The response came quickly.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Kepkep Ah, I guess I should have figured that some fans would be here. LOL.

Kelp just breathed a sigh of relief. But it was a few minutes later that his phone began to shake like crazy. Every few seconds he was getting a new notification. People were asking what had happened, and what was going on. He just quickly turned off his phone and tried to eat his food.

Soon lunch ended and Kelp made his way to his third period, he entered and just sat down, not even bothering to turn his phone back on. For once he was fully intent on focusing on the class.

Towards the end, the teacher was done his lesson, and just let the class read or do whatever. Kelp turned on his phone. He had far too many notifications from absolute strangers, wanting to know the full details of what had happened. He figured the best course of action was if he ignored it they would eventually go away. Instead he just began to read the new batch of posts that Leviathan had made.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Food looks awful. At least it's nice outside.  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- Person I was eating lunch with just challenged someone to a #TurfWar. #InkopolisPrivateAcademy  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- It's against a ranked team within #InkopolisPrivateAcademy. I wonder how good they are.  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- He asked me to help him. I don't think he knows who I actually am.  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- We just need one more person to make a squad

Kelp just zoned completely out. Leviathan, fighting in a Turf War at the school. It was a dream come true. He could see him live!

But then there was the last tweet. "We just need one more person to make a squad!" A part deep inside him was ecstatic. He wanted to be that person. He could be that person. He was a good Calamari of Duty player, so he knew strategy, and all of the rules. He was riding high on those thoughts.

At least until the fourth period, physical education, happened, and he was brought back to reality by the stark realization that he was not an active Inkling. He wasn't physically strong, or had a great deal of endurance.

He was just on the sidelines, gasping for air as others were running laps around the gym. For the first time, he stopped and just listened to what others were talking about. News had traveled around the entire school rather quickly about the upcoming match with Leviathan.

"Do you know which Ranked Team he's fighting?"

"No."

"Anything but the top team is probably a waste of time for him."

Kelp doubted that it was his sister's team.

Gym class ended, and they got changed back into their normal uniform, and were allowed to go. Kelp just put his gym clothes into his locker, and grabbed his sketchbook for the final class of the day, and his personal favorite: Art.

Kale just came rushing up to him. "Got out of class early?" Kelp asked.

"Yeah, squid." Kale replied. "You've had to of heard the news by now. Leviathan will be having a Turf War with one of our ranked teams!"

"Yeah!"

"It's just been exploding all over Squider." Kale said. "I just can't believe this is going to happen! I wonder what your sister thinks about all this."

Kelp just laughed. "I think she'll like all the free publicity the school will get, and possibly some budget increases."

"Think she'll allow the Turf War? I mean, isn't there some rules about a professional fighting against amateurs?" Kale said.

Kelp just thought about it for a few seconds. "I've never heard her say that such a thing existed. But maybe it's in his contract. At the very least, I doubt it's going to be canceled. It's blown up too much. And I doubt she want's to feel the wrath of thousands of people online."

"After school, I'm going to rush over to the stadium and save you a front row seat." Kale said. "Okay?!"

"Yeah, thanks squid!" Kelp said.

"No problem!"

The two went their separate ways. Kelp made his way to the art room and sat down. He took out his cell phone and just checked what he missed during gym.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Class 4... boo... People are whispering about the match.  
 **Leviathan Apex** \- I think I just heard people in the halls talking. Did I just hear my name? Hehehe.

Kelp just put away his phone and began to sketch in his sketch book. He heard people enter into the room, but he didn't really look up. The teacher seemed to be talking with one of the students, but that was nothing new. He heard someone walk towards him, and felt them loom over him.

"Excuse me, do you mind if I sit here?" He asked.

"Not at all, go right ahead." Kelp said, not even bothering to look up. In the back of his head, he was thinking that was rather strange, since no one really asked if they could sit beside someone. There was no seating arrangement for this class. The teacher allowed you to sit wherever you wanted, just as long as you did the work.

The person just sat down beside him, and pulled out a sketch book and some pencils. He also had his phone at his side that he occasionally typed something into. After Kelp had finished shading a spot on his picture he just looked at his cell phone, and the post from squider.

 **Leviathan Apex** \- Class 5. Art! Yay! Today is almost done, can't wait until the end of this class.

Kelp just froze. His eyes slowly moved up and observed the entire classroom that was in front of him. He was at the very back, so he would be able to see everyone. He would be able to see if anyone was new.

But there was no one new, everyone he saw had been in this class for the past month. Not to mention that this was the only art class at this time.

"Oh wow, you're a really good artist." A voice said beside him.

Kelp just jumped to the side surprised, tripping and falling out of the chair he was sitting on. The chair rattled on the ground, getting the attention of the whole class. They looked up, but upon seeing that he was on the ground, they just got back to work. Kelp on the other hand looked at the person who had been sitting beside him. He stood up and just extended his hand forwards.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said helping him up.

"Sorry, it's just I normally sit alone, and I had forgotten that there was someone beside me." Kelp laughed.

Kelp was just in shock. Sitting right beside him was the same person who was kicked out during history class. He just sat down and began to draw. Kelp got back into his chair and just froze. There was only one possibility that was rushing through his mind, and he needed to know the answer now. He quickly tore out a page and just wrote on it:

"Are you Leviathan? Y/N? From: Kepkep."

He just slid the note over to him. He took the note and read it over, and let off a small chuckle. He wrote something down, and just slid the note back.

"Is 'Kepkep' your real name? Y/N?"

Kelp just laughed, and scribbled something down.

"No, its Kelp, now answer my question."

He pushed the paper over and just stared intently at him.

"Fine, fine," he laughed. "Yes. My name is Levi. Nice to meet you Kepkep."

Kelp just nodded. He was suddenly overcome with nervousness and anxiety. He didn't know what else to say. He didn't know if he was bothering him, should he back away now so that he didn't come across as some crazed lunatic fan. He didn't want Leviathan to not like him and...

There was suddenly a light pat on the back. "You okay?" Levi asked.

"Yeah. Just... nervous, I guess..."

Levi just nodded, and looked at his picture. "So what are you drawing?"

"Um, well, it's a picture of a Turf War in progress." Kelp replied. "The clash between several inklings on the battlefield."

Levi just nodded.

"And you?" Kelp asked.

Levi just pushed over the sketch book. So far the only thing there seemed to be a picture of a zapfish, crossed with a microphone, but it also had razor sharp teeth. "The great octoweapons." Levi replied. "All five of them."

"Five?" Kelp said a bit confused. "But there was only four in all mentions of the Great Turf war."

"Well, the fifth one is a bit new..." Levi said. "Or, well, um, at least, what I'd imagine a fifth one would look like. Honestly it's probably just going to be someone on the top with a throne like thing."

"Ah okay." Kelp said, returning back to his drawing. "So, how did you see the Great Octoweapons?"

"Well..." Levi began, he paused and just thought over how he was going to say it. "I guess the best way to explain it is I volunteered at an old squid home. And one of the people there was Captain Cuttlefish of the Squidbeak Splatoon."

Kelp just nodded. "You've actually met Captain Cuttlefish, he's a legend!"

"Yeah, although I got to say age hasn't been too kind to him." Levi admitted.

"I can imagine." Kelp replied. "I mean, he was 20 when the Great Turf War ended 100 years ago. He's ancient now."

"He can still put up a fight. And he insists that he isn't a day over 60." Levi laughed. "So, obviously, you like Turf Wars?"

"I love them. Never knowing who's going to win until the last second. Every match is a nail biter. And it's just a constant struggle for who's going to win." Kelp replied.

"I'm guessing you followed me professionally?" Levi wondered.

"Yeah." Kelp replied. "Why did you come here?"

Levi just shrugged. "Reasons." He said.

"That's not very descriptive." Kelp chuckled.

Levi just nodded. "They aren't too important, and don't concern you. But let's just say, I didn't like other schools."

"Ah, okay, that's fair, I think." Kelp replied.

"Can I have your number?" Levi asked.

Kelp just froze. He looked at Levi rather surprised. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." Levi replied. "Just as long as it doesn't end up on the inknet."

In his seat Kelp was just jumping for joy. They exchanged numbers and then the two continued talking, while working on their drawings.

Eventually, class ended. Kelp made his way to his locker, to put away all his stuff and then he would make his way to the stadium. All ready inklings were flocking over to the stadium. He just got into the crowd and began to go with the flow. Suddenly his cell phone vibrated. He pulled it out and saw a message.

"Kelp, it's Levi, can I ask for a favor?"

"Sure what is it?" Kelp quickly replied.

"I'm completely lost, and I have no idea where this club room is... Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah."

"Can you meet me back at the art room and lead me there."

"Sure." Kelp quickly responded. He was still in the crowd of inklings and just began to weave through it, going against the flow, until he was finally at the art room. Levi was there, standing in front of it. Beyond his school bag there were also two rather large cases that he had.

Before Kelp could question him about the cases though, Levi spoke up. "That was amazing!"

"What was?"

"The way you weaved through those inklings." Levi replied.

Kelp just blinked a few times. "Oh!" He replied. "I'm sure it was nothing special."

"Nothing special?!" Levi replied almost offended. "You didn't come in contact with any of them, you weaved through them flawlessly. How did you do it?"

Kelp just shrugged. "I've just always been small. I've always had to go through crowds like that."

Levi just nodded. "I see. Well then, we should get going."

"Do you need help carrying something?" Kelp asked.

"Yeah, thanks!" Levi just handed Kelp a case. "Here." He said.

Kelp just held the case, it wasn't as heavy as he was expecting. If anything it was just more awkward, whatever was inside the weight wasn't evenly distributed. They waited for the crowd to die down a bit before Kelp then led him through the school. Occasionally Kelp's phone would ring with a message from Kale about how he better get there soon, because some people had all ready threatened him for the seats.

Eventually Kelp got Levi to a hallway. "And then over there turn left into another hallway, and it will be the last door on the right." He said.

"Thanks." Levi said. "I just can't make heads or tails of this map. That and the writing is all blotchy..."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Kelp said. "It takes awhile to get adjusted to this place."

With that Levi walked off. Kelp just began to walk away, eager to get to his spot that was being saved by Kale.

He was about to turn around when he suddenly tripped over a case. He just looked at it, and then suddenly realized that he never gave Levi back the case that he was helping him carry.

"Sorry I'll be there soon, I just forgot something." he quickly texted Kale.

He rushed to the club room and just froze in front of the door. He was unsure if he should knock or just walk right in to hand the case over to Levi. He was about to knock when he heard his sister talk.

"Still, you don't have a fourth person to help your squad." Naomi said. "Even with the three of you and your skill, our regulations are that it has to be a group of four versus four."

Kelp just froze. They hadn't found a fourth squad member. A minute passed, and his body seemed to move on its own. He just knocked at the door. There was suddenly silence on the other end. He just slowly opened it and stepped through.

There were so many eyes on him. Any confidence he had just vanished in an instant. Despite walking through the door, he felt like suddenly turning and running away.

"Is something wrong?" Naomi asked. There was a faint smile on her face, it gave him a bit of confidence to start speaking.

"Um, well..." Kelp just looked around the room. "I... Um... well..."

"Spit it out, we don't have all day." One rather frustrated inkling said. There was a lot of pent up aggression and frustration in his voice.

"Hey, leave the kid alone." Another inkling said. "He's clearly afraid and intimidated by all of us."

Levi just stepped right over to Kelp and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "It's okay, just take a deep breath and try again. And if you're having difficulty saying it, why don't you type it out." He suggested.

Kelp just nodded and took a deep breath. "Thank you." He said. "I... I would like to join the Turf War club!"

All he saw was a giant smile flash across his sister's face. Everyone else seemed to be shocked into silence. A female inkling was the first to speak. "Well, in that case. There's just a small test you have to do. It's just a small Turf war, and we were just trying to get a fourth member."

"Ika-" One of the male inklings said. However Levi just went over to him and began to whisper something.

Of course being Naomi's little brother, he knew there was no such initiation ritual, but he decided to play along. "Okay, I'll do it!" Kelp said, before anyone else could react.

Levi seemed far too amused. "Great kid." He laughed. "You're on our side then."

Naomi just smiled, rather amused by what was going on. However, another inkling was the extremely frustrated. "Just what is this farce!" He shouted out frustrated.

"It's not a farce." Another inkling replied. "It's a turf war. Now, anything else that has to be said can be said in the field. Due to someone we've got a large audience that we need to entertain."

"Well then, I guess we better go get changed into our gym uniforms then." Levi said, just slapping his hand across the Kelp's back. "Okay."

He just nodded a bit nervous. And they made their way down to a changing room.

"Well, thanks for bringing this to me." Levi laughed, grabbing the case from Kelp's hands.

"You planned this, didn't you?" Kelp whispered.

Levi just smiled. "Maybe a bit." He replied. "Just in case they hadn't found a fourth member for the squad. Well, everything worked out."

* * *

They had separated. Ink and Ika to go talk about their private strategy meeting, and now Levi was walking with Kelp through a room with a large assortment of weapons, each in their own case. Levi would occasionally pull out a weapon and hand it to Kelp.

"How does that feel?" Levi asked.

"I don't know." Kelp replied. "Fine I guess?"

But Levi would take back the weapon and put it back in the case. He would follow it with another, and another. Occasionally he would correct Kelp's grip or adjust the size with some rollers. "This isn't working." Levi said. He just looked back and forth. "You're a complete beginner, so those would be too hard... Ah! I've got it!"

Levi just rushed over to a batch of cases and just opened one up. "This is perfect!" Levi said. "The ultimate beginner weapon. The Splattershot Jr.!"

He just handed a green gun over to Kelp who aimed it a bit. "This feels light and easy to wield." Kelp said.

Levi just laughed. "Good! Does this place have a shooting range to test everything?"

"I think so, there's a small room in here, at least that's what my sister has said." Kelp replied.

"That's great. We'll go there, and I'll run you through how everything works, and then you can have your first turf war." Levi replied.

Kelp just nodded. Another student came over, and they were led to the shooting range.

Soon, their first battle together as allies would start. A battle that would have the result of forever changing their lives, and Inkopolis Private Academy.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **There was supposed to be at signs, to try and emulate a twitter conversation, but I guess that's not allowed... Ah well.**

 **One thing I'm questioning, is if the various squid based renaming of certain things is too annoying, (** ** **Inknet and Squider)** I'm willing to change it, or cut down.**

 **The names and where they came from and some of my thought process behind it:**

 **Ika: Japanese for Squid.  
**

 **Ink: Obvious enough, squid ink. Since they're also twins, there's the whole thing of them having very similar names.**

 **Levi: Levi is short for Leviathan. Leviathan, being a mythical giant sea monster, and since he uses the Kraken, which is a giant sea monster... Yeah... (Although, the Leviathan normally refers to whales...) I forgot if the name originally came from Levi from Attack on Titan and then I realized it could stand for Leviathan, or if I originally had Leviathan and cut it down to Levi. It's honestly been a few months because...**

 **Ink, Ika, and Levi were also what I named my Splatoon Amiibos. Hence why Ika is a charger, Ink was formally a roller, and why Levi has the Kraken weapon.  
**

 **Kelp Nori: Kelp should be obvious. Nori, is the japanese name for edible seaweed. The nickname Kepkep, that his sister calls him, and he used as his Squider handle was inspired by Hyperdimension Neptunia, where Neptune is called Nepnep by Compa.  
**

 **Naomi Nori: I actually named Naomi first, I wanted to use Nori, but didn't really think that would be a good first name, so I had it as her last name. And then I wanted a bit of alliteration, which meant not having her continue the theme naming.  
**

 **Kale: A vegetable. I was actually going down a list of names, I saw it, and it popped out.**

 **Aven: In Gaelic it means Powerful River**

 **The other members of Team Apex: Cetus, Hydra, and Siren. Like Levi, they're all named after legendary sea monsters.  
**

 **Mr. Rehcaet: Teacher backwards. It's my go to name when I need a name for a teacher.  
**

 **Misc:**

 **Also, what I said in my previous author notes, about how Splatoon was so far the best game of 2015 I had played. Since then, I've played Undertale. So good. It's up there, but I'm not sure if it's will displace Splatoon though. I mean, I keep coming back to play Splatoon. While I've played through Undertale twice to get the Neutral and Pacifist endings, but I'm not sure if I want to play any more, and get the bad ending.  
**


	3. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Chapter 1: The Beginning

In the waiting room, they could hear the cheers from the stadium. To keep the people happy, they sent out several other of the teams from the Turf War Club, to do quick matches, while they got the 'main event' ready.

Kelp just pulled out his cell phone and began to type.

"Hey, squid, something suddenly came up, and I can't make it. Sorry for making you save a seat for me." He sent the text message to Kale, and just braced himself. He imagined that Kale would first swear loudly, despite the surroundings, and take a few minutes to compose himself and be in a state that he could send only an angry text, instead of a death threat ridden one.

"What do you mean something suddenly came up?" Kale's frustration was clear through his texts. "There better be a damn good explanation."

"Don't worry, there is." Kelp replied. "Sorry, I'll make it up to you, I'll buy dessert for a week or something."

"That sounds like a good idea... Maybe even two weeks or a month, or the rest of the school year. I guess I'll have to see what your reason is."

"You will." Was all Kelp texted back. Despite how he was about to enter into his first turf war, he was strangely the most calm.

Levi just seemed rather nervous about the huge crowd. "I should have known, why did I do that?" He was muttering to himself.

The sibling team he now knew as Ink and Ika were rather nervous about having a complete amateur on their side.

"You were the one that was willing to do three against four." Ink reminded Ika.

"I know, I know." Ika replied. "I was just thinking we could always rely on tenacity to get the specials faster."

"It's fine." Levi said. "We can just go ahead, and he can ink the turf back by the spawn point. And if anything comes up, he has the Splatershot Jr. it's a good weapon for a beginner, and he has the bubbler and splat bombs."

In the firing range, Levi had run through how to use the various things. On his wrist there was a watch that showed his current ink, along with a meter that would that would fill up that would let him know when his bubbler was ready. When it was ready, they said he just had to press the buttons on the watch, or a button on the side and top of the Splattershot Jr. to activate it and he would be surrounded by a barrier. Then there were the splat bomb's casings that were currently hanging off of his belt, he just had to reach for a bomb, put it behind him, quickly turn it into a small nozzle in at the bottom of the tank, and then pull it out and throw it, a few seconds later it would explode. All he could do now was just step onto the battlefield and do his best.

"Hello everybody!" Naomi's voice rang out through all the speakers, including one in their waiting room. "Are you ready for the main event?"

There was a loud deafening applause. For the first time the reality suddenly hit Kelp, all these other inklings would be there, watching him and... Would they blame him for holding Levi back? Would they harass him, want to know how he knew Levi? Thoughts such as these were swirling around in his head. Levi was just quick to notice and give him a reassuring pat on the back. "Just ignore the crowd, okay." He said. "You'll do fine. You just need to cover as much turf as you can."

"Right." Kelp whispered.

"Look, during my first turf war I was a nervous wreck too." Levi said. "The thing is we all have to start somewhere. And besides, if you screw up, the audience will all be focused on me, that no one will be able to tell. Okay?"

"Your right." Kelp said. "But I have a feeling there are at least two people who are watching me."

"Sorry to keep you waiting. But the two teams had to prepare themselves for this battle." Naomi said. "And I hope that you will enjoy this event. Those of you who are here from other schools, you'll find that we have nothing to hide. Now then... Let's begin!"

Once again their was a loud deafening applause.

"This is a ranking battle between the 9th ranked squad in our Turf War club, and the newcomers." Naomi said. "If the newcomers win, they will be recognized at the 9th strongest squad in our school, and become a ranked team, pushing the current number 9 team down to 10, and the current rank 10 squad will no longer be officially recognized unless they can beat the 9th or 10th ranked teams and take their rank."

"What's the tenth ranked team like anyways?" Levi asked.

"Don't know." Ika said.

"My sister described them as the School's Vanguard." Kelp said. "They could probably be ranked higher, but they choose to stay at rank 10, to make sure those that enter into the top nine are ready, and that the school could be proud to have them as members of the official teams."

"Interesting." Levi said.

They just went silent and continued to listen to Naomi's explanation.

"Up until now, you've just seen turf wars, however our ranking battles are not turf wars." Naomi said.

And suddenly in the waiting room it was like a bomb had just gone off. Everyone just looked at each other completely afraid. "What?!" Ika shouted out rather shocked.

"Why are you shocked about this?" Ink shouted frustrated.

"It will be a best two out of three matches." Naomi said. "The rules are Splat Zones! The two teams of four will fight to fight to control the marked area. They have to cover it in their ink, and when enough is covered, a timer will count down. They will start at 100 points, and the first team to hit zero, or have the least amount of points when the time is up will win. If they ink and gain control of the Splat Zone, and then the enemy takes it over there will be a penalty applied to the other team, and once they regain control, that penalty will have to count down before their points start counting down once again."

"What!? What? What?!" Ika was panicking.

"And now it's time to introduce the two teams." Naomi said. "First the challengers!"

That was their cue. They had been instructed when they were announcing who was on the teams to step onto a circular thing. They were to then transform into squids and swim through the pipes to appear in what was called a spawn point. It would also change their hair color to what was the designated ink color, and fill up their weapons with ink.

"First, she's cold, she's can splat you a mile away. Ika the charger!"

Ika just appeared on the spawn point.

"Next he's pretty much the reason you're all here, so let's not beat around the bush. Leviathan the roller!"

The audience let out a deafening applause, as Levi appeared on the spawn point.

"The third member of this squad. He may be small. But he's what tied this team together. The one who rushed in and said he would be the fourth member of the Squad at the last minute. In his debut match, I present to you the little rookie, Kelp the shooter!"

As Kelp appeared there was just dead silence. Kelp just made a mental note to deal with Naomi later for that 'small' crack. "WHAT?!" A voice suddenly cut through the silence. "KELP!?" Kelp just let off a small laugh and pumped his fist up into the air.

"Thanks Kale." He said, although only loud enough for his team mates to hear. All ready he could feel his cellphone vibrating with Kale's surprised response. Most likely saying that he had a lot of explaining to do when this was over.

"And finally the leader. The one who challenged the 9th ranked team, and actually managed to get Leviathan to help him. Give a round of applause for Ink the Shooter!"

There was some applause from the audience, but it just seemed to be out of respect.

"And together they form Scorpion Joystick!"

Kelp just flinched. Ink, Ika, and Levi were just looking at each other. "Who's idea was that name?" Ink asked.

Kelp just felt like disappearing into the spawn points ink. "She didn't... She's having way too much fun with this."

"So what's Scorpion Joystick?"

"It's my squad in Calamari of Duty." Kelp replied. "It's really just me and a few online friends..."

Ink just let off an annoyed grunt. "Great, not only is he a complete amateur, he also is someone who thinks just because he played a game he can be good at a real Turf War."

Ika just gave him a quick jab with her elbow.

"I didn't say that." Kelp was quick to reply. But he couldn't help but notice that despite his limited interactions with the twins, they were acting differently now. " _Maybe this is just their game face._ " he thought.

Levi just turned to face Ink. "Give him a chance. I've gone over everything he needs to know."

"And now the 9th ranked team." Naomi said. She said their names, there was the odd cheer from the audience, but the most defining characteristic of them were that they were all rollers. "This is the current 9th ranked team in our school. The Road Rollers!"

"I thought this would be easy, since they all were just rollers." Ika said. "But on a splat zone match..."

"We'll be fine." Ink reassured her. "Listen, Kelp, when a roller is coming towards you, don't stand in one spot. Jump over them, or back away, and keep shooting."

Kelp just nodded.

"Don't worry." Levi said. "We're all here to support each other. And if you're any good at Calamari of Duty, you will at least have the basics down."

"Right." Kelp said.

"We shouldn't have too much to worry about." Ika said. "They all use the Krak-On Splat Roller."

Levi just let off a heavy sigh. "Bunch of amateurs."

"But we shouldn't let our guards down. They were able to get this rank in the first place." Ika said. " Listen, Kelp, if it comes down to it, you can transfer the bubbler to us as well."

"Right." Kelp said.

"All right." Naomi shouted. "Are you ready?!"

The crowd let off a deafening cheer.

"I can't hear you, are you ready?!"

They let off another deafening cheer that was even louder than before.

"All right!" Naomi said. "Let's begin the first match of Splat Zones! In this round there is only a single point in the direct center of the arena that they have to fight over! 3... 2... 1... GO!"

Levi was the first to react by jumping forwards and spreading his ink in front of them. Ika raised up her charger and fired a straight line. Ink quickly went into the line of ink that the charger had made and appeared at the other end, quickly spreading his ink. Kelp was a bit shocked, but began to follow them, spreading his ink on spots that they had missed to start building up his bubbler.

The school arena was a basically a large rectangle. There were numerous crates that had been stacked up to act as vantage points. And there were numerous bushes that had been grown to act as walls. The center in the middle that they had to capture and defend was a large garden with a gazebo in the direct center.

Ika had quickly gotten onto a crate, and was using that to spread her ink and keep an eye out for the four rollers. Ink, and Levi quickly climbed up the crate, and jumped off of it and over the first barrier.

Kelp on the other hand took the long way around, so that he could fill up his bubbler.

There was a sudden flash on the watch, stating that their team now had control over the area. Kelp just made it into the center area to see Levi and Ink defending it. With the sniping from Ika, the three rollers never had a chance.

He paused for a second, as he inked the surrounding area. "Wait, three?" The thought crossed his mind, he suddenly heard someone jumping out of some ink right behind him. Quickly thinking he activated his bubbler. The fourth roller hit the barrier, and bounced away. He just turned around and shot the roller until they were splatted.

Levi just rushed right up to him, and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Good work kid." He said. "Get ready for their second attack though."

"Right!"

Kelp began inking the perimeter, to build up the bubbler once again. Ika had moved from her perch to the center of the gazebo, and she was constantly looking back and forth through the four entrances to the garden.

Kelp just looked down at his watch. They currently were only at 70 points to go.

"Get ready." Levi said. "Now that we're in control, their special meter will be going up automatically. We're going to have to deal with four krakens. Just the question is, will they be all using the kraken at the same time, or will they be doing it one at a time, in theory creating a perpetual cycle where they always have a single kraken..."

Everyone just nodded and braced themselves. Sure enough on all four sides four krakens came rushing towards them. They shot at them, trying to push them back, at least until the their kraken ran out. Levi just quickly jumped into the air and transformed into a kraken. One by one they transformed back into their inkling forms, and Levi was able to quickly take them all out. He reverted back to normal and just let off a heavy sigh. "Idiots."

"Something wrong?" Ink asked.

"You three just stay here, I'll deal with them." Levi just ran into the bushes, and they just all waited until their points went down to zero.

Cheers just erupted from the crowd, and they made their way back to the spawn point. Levi was just standing there, and looked rather frustrated. "I can't believe this."

"What's wrong?" Kelp asked.

"Those amateur idiots. How are they ranked here at this school?!"

"They're only ranked ninth." Ika pointed out.

"So, the ranked tenth group doesn't know how to deal with rollers?" Levi said. "Why did I come here?"

"That's a good question why did you come here?" Ink asked.

Levi just looked back at the battlefield. "That's not important right now." He said. "Please tell me the other teams are stronger than this."

"Yeah, they are." Ika said. "They all have a bit of semblance of balance, and aren't just all rollers."

Levi just nodded.

"Also, I know it probably doesn't mean much coming from me." Kelp said. "But I think my sister once said that it might be better if you think of the tenth ranked team as a job interview."

"A job interview?" Levi questioned.

"They see if you're ready or qualified to continue forwards and challenge the rest of the reserved and ranked teams." Kelp replied. "Hence their name, The Vanguard. At least that's how I think my sister explained it."

"And then if you have their okay, you're allowed to challenge the 9th ranked team." Ika said. "If you win against them, you get their rank."

"So how did we skip that process?" Levi wondered.

"By having Aven being an idiot and accepting the challenge." Ika replied. "By him doing that, we managed to skip half of it and save a bunch of time."

"So, the rank 10 team is actually much stronger than they let on." Levi deduced. "They just chose to stay in that position."

"Yeah." Ika replied. "That's the tradition I guess."

Soon the ink had been cleared away, and the second round began. It was over just as quickly as the first round. They claimed control, and Levi just steamrolled through them. The one time one managed to sneak past Levi and make it to the center area, Ink and Ika were quick to take care of them.

"And we have our winners and the new current rank 9 team!" Naomi said. "Give a round of applause for Ink, Ika, Levi, and Kelp!"

They just stood there as people cheered. But those cheers were hollow and empty, they were just out of obligation. They knew that Levi was going to win from the very beginning.

"You okay? Not nervous, or anything?" Levi asked.

"No, I just feel empty." Kelp replied.

"Well in that case, why don't we all go out for some ice cream or something. My treat." Levi said.

"I guess since we're a team now, we have to get to know each other." Ika said. "Yeah, let's celebrate our first victory!"

"You're right, if we must." Ink said. They all went to put back their rented weapons, and then they went to change back into their school uniforms.

As Ink, Levi, and Kelp were changing an announcement went over the school's speakers.

"And in a shocking twist, it appears that the former 10th ranked team has challenged the current 10th ranked team!" Naomi's voice suddenly said throughout the speakers. Kelp knew is sister well, unlike most people he knew when she was faking her enthusiasm and surprise. This was one of those times.

Levi was just glancing at Ink, and Kelp. "Want to go watch it?" He suggested.

"Not really." Ink replied. "We'll find out the results one way or another."

"I kind of just want to get out of here." Kelp added on, as he began buttoning up his uniform shirt.

"Besides, the results should be obvious." Ink said. "The Vanguard will win."

Levi nodded.

They got dressed and went out of the change room, to see Ika waiting for them. They just all began to make their way out of the school. All ready it seemed like there was a mass exodus, most of the media was packing up, and many other inklings didn't want to stick around. After all, the main event was now over, Levi had finished his matches.

It still seemed like some of the media though was on the look out, waiting for Levi to escape.

Levi however seemed prepared for this. He had let his hair out of the top knot, allowing the two long tentacles to come down. He also put on a pair of glasses, and just smiled. "Kelp, pretend I'm your girlfriend or something."

"What?" Kelp said a bit shocked.

But Levi just wrapped his arms around Kelp's left arm. Levi was about a head taller, making it a bit awkward for Kelp. "Isn't the girl supposed to be smaller..." He muttered.

"Shut up and act natural." Levi replied.

"Easy for you to say."

They made it past the media with no problems. "That worked." Kelp said rather surprised.

Levi just laughed in response. "Usually does."

"Honestly, I think the school uniform was different enough..." Ika pointed out. "They wouldn't have been able to tell between you and the however many other male inklings with a top knot in this school."

"No, they would have known." Levi sighed. "In hindsight, I wish I wore a gas mask to hide my face. It would make going out in public a lot easier."

They continued to walk through the streets of Inkopolis until they made it to an ice cream parlor. They all just got their ice cream and Levi paid and then they sat down at a table.

"So, we're ranked ninth now." Ink said. "We're about to send a giant wave through the school."

"I'm kind of disappointed." Ika said. "We didn't even get to use our secret strategy."

"And what strategy was that?" Levi laughed.

"We switched places." Ink replied. "I was using the charger the whole time. I was afraid that they would target my wrist... But that turned out to be a non issue."

"And no one noticed." Ika laughed.

"I noticed." Kelp replied.

The two of them just froze and looked at the inkling. "What?" Ink said.

"I noticed something was different between you two." Kelp replied. "But I couldn't place it and just thought it was your game faces, or how you always acted, and our limited interactions before were just you being polite."

"Ah I see." Ink laughed. "I was kind of afraid that Ika was being too brash."

They were all silent as they finished their ice cream. Ink and Ika were the first to go.

"Well, see you tomorrow." Ink said. "We should meet up during school, and try to figure out whats going to happen from here on out."

"Yeah, I'll see you later." Levi said.

The two twins just walked away. However Kelp just continued to sit down and look at the table. Not even bothering to look up, or make a conversation with Levi.

"Is something wrong squid?" Levi said.

Kelp just nodded. "Yeah. You guys are great and all, but... I guess we're all in this together."

"Yeah." Levi replied.

"I just feel like I'm probably going to hold you guys back... I mean, I really didn't want to join the club, but I heard you needed the last person, and I was right there, and my body moved by itself." Kelp admitted. "Guess I'm stuck now."

Levi just smiled. "You'll do fine. Trust me, okay? I'll see you at school tomorrow."

Kelp just nodded, and watched as Levi walked away.

* * *

Naomi was sitting behind a desk in the Turf War club room. The battle between the Vanguard and the other team had gone about as well as expected. The four rollers were completely crushed.

She was swamped. Some of their higher ranked teams had all ready voiced displeasure about Levi joining and being an official member. The fifth ranked team The Valkyries were rather vocal. But for the time being, they had all just left her alone.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in, it's open." She said, returning her attention to the paperwork that was now on the desk. She now had to register them all and fill out a bunch of paperwork so that they were officially recognized by the school. And tomorrow there would be a bunch of explaining that she had to do, something that she wasn't looking forwards to.

Through the door walked the 10th ranked team. "You called for us?"

Naomi didn't look up from the paperwork. "What are your current thoughts on the now ranked 9th team." Naomi asked.

"Three of them are fine, the fourth, your brother, isn't."

"It was his first turf war." Naomi said. "All things considered I think he did really well, but I guess I've got personal bias."

"Considering he's your brother, I expected more." Another said.

"He seems to be the weakest point." Another said.

"He'll improve." Naomi said. "Anyways, thanks for what you did today."

The four of the rank ten team left the room and Naomi just looked out the window. "And so it begins, Kepkep..."

* * *

Kelp made his way back home, and found it empty. His sister wasn't back yet, he figured she was probably busy with everything that had gone on. He made his way up to his room and looked at the case of Calamari of Duty. He couldn't find the energy to play it. He just changed out of his school uniform and into a hoodie, and some other pants.

Even if it had been one brief moment, he felt such a rush of excitement when that roller had popped up and tried to attack him. He just looked at his wallet, there was some money that he was saving up for the new Calamari of Duty game, Calamari of Duty: Calamari Harder, but now that he had a real taste of a real turf war and battle. It just wasn't the same.

He just rushed outside and down the street. It wasn't long until he made it to Inkopolis Tower, and the battle lobby that was right beneath it. He walked into to the battle lobby and just looked around. The walls were covered with scrolling LED lights.

"Hello, and welcome to the Battle Lobby!" A inkling behind a desk said. Kelp just walked over to him and just looked around. "What can we do for you?"

"Um, I'd like to get a membership, and start being able to fight in Turf Wars." Kelp replied.

"Of course. All right, let me just get you all set up, and I can ring it through." He said.

They went through the process. Here at this facility, they had some Splattershot Jr.'s that their members could use free of charge, however anything beyond that they would have to buy and get it for themselves.

"You have a smartphone?" The person behind the counter asked.

"Yeah." Kelp replied.

"Okay, can I see it?"

Kelp looked a bit suspicious at him. "Why?"

"Well, I'm going to install the ratings app." The inkling said. "It's for the ID card, for turf wars."

"Oh!" Kelp said rather surprised.

"You can download it yourself if you're nervous or anything. Here's the router and wifi password." the inkling said, pushing a card over to him.

Kelp just began to go through the process, eventually finding the app and downloading it. After that he began to input his information.

"All right, it looks like you're registered. So, before each battle, you swipe your phone on a panel and after each battle you do the same. The NFC and the computers will do the rest."

The Inkling went on to explain how stage rotation worked. Inside the building there were numerous different facilities. Currently half were set for a Turf War, and half were set for ranked matches. Every four hours they would change up the rotation, which stages were turf wars, and which stages were ranked. They would also changed the ranked mode. He also explained that Kelp had to be at least level 10 before he started to challenge ranked battles.

"So, can I start doing turf wars right away?" Kelp asked.

"Of course."

"Okay." Kelp said.

"Just, if you do challenge ranked battles, there are a few differences that you have to worry about." The person said. "But, I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Kelp just nodded.

"All right, just follow the pathway, and swipe your phone at the various parts, and it will sort you into a team and guide you to the spot you need to be." The person said. He pulled out a metal briefcase from behind the counter. "Also here is your rental Splattershot Jr. Good luck."

"Thank you." Kelp said taking the briefcase. He began to make his way through the hallways. It eventually led him to a single dark room. He went inside and looked around. It was currently empty. The only real defining thing about it was a TV that currently displayed his name and current level was over another door. He guessed it was the door that lead to the battle arena.

Two inklings walked into the room. One seemed to have a long gun on their back. The other was carrying a roller. They just looked up at the TV and let out an annoyed grunt.

"Urgh, we've got a freakin' Noob." One Inkling said rather annoyed.

"We might as well just hand over the victory to the other team." Another said.

"Let's hope the fourth person is good."

"Why so I can carry you?" A female inkling said as she walked into the room. Across her back was a gigantic brush. "Let's see... a Splattershot Jr., Krak-On Splat Roller, and a Kelp Splat Charger. Okay, we're at least a bit balanced."

There was just silence, only being broken when Kelp just walked over to the girl. "I'm Kelp." He said, stretching out his hand. "What's your name?"

"Interesting." She said, shaking it. "You can call me Artemis. And you two, what are your names?"

She was rather forceful. It was enough to at least leave them in a bit shock. "I'm River." The inkling carrying the roller eventually said.

"And you can call me Arden." The inkling with the charger added on.

"All right." Artemis said. "For right now we're a team. I don't care how much experience you do or don't have, we now have to work together. Understood?"

"Yes." The three of them said.

"Good." Artemis said. "Come on. We've got some turf wars to win!"

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Names:  
**

 **Artemis: Greek Goddess of the moon and hunting.  
**

 **River: Was looking through a list of names, and it popped out. Self explanatory.  
**

 **Arden: Once again going through a list of names. And when I saw it, it popped out, and I decided to go and look it up: "** **Derived from the celtic word for high." As a charger, he should be up high up to snipe opponents.**

 **Team Names:**

 **Scorpion Joystick: Came from a troll fic trilogy that's infamous in the SSB Fanbase. The "Supper Smash Bros Mishonh From God". Specifically, the third story: "Stupor Smesh Bras Mishen From doG 3". One of the many, many, many misspellings in it was "Joystick Scorpion." and I thought that was completely awesome and wanted to use it for something. Then I looked it up on Google and saw that it's actually a thing. A joystick that kind of looks like a scorpion.  
**

 **Road Rollers: I wanted to do that name as a joke since they were all rollers... It was either that or Team Cannon Fodder.**

 **The Vanguard: The advanced guard in an army. Since it would be the first team that people would challenge, and their job was to see if groups were strong enough to start climbing the ranks... It made sense in my head...  
**

 **The Valkyries: They will be an all female team. In Norse Mythology, Valkyries were maidens who brought the souls of slain warriors to Valhalla. In this story, much like the Vanguard, they are a group that makes sure that those moving up the ranks are worthy of becoming a member of the regular teams or if they should stay in the reserve teams.  
**


	4. Chapter 2: What's next?

**Well figured with the last content update hitting Splatoon, I'd post something here.**

* * *

Chapter 2: What's next?

Kelp was just at his locker, getting his stuff ready. "All right squid, you've got some explaining to do!" Kale said slapping him on his back.

Kelp just cried out in pain. Every muscle in his body hurt. "Don't do that Kale!" Kelp cried out. "It hurts, everything hurts, I never knew such pain existed..." he just collapsed towards his locker, and tried to support himself with his shaking arms.

"Are you okay?" Kale asked.

"Do I look okay?!" Kelp snapped back.

Kale just nervously laughed. "Uh... No..." He said. "Listen, I tried calling you last night, and you never picked up, what were you doing?" Kale asked.

Kelp just weakly laughed. "Turf war, after turf war. I went and got a membership, and well... I lost track of time and kind of stayed there until after midnight, and... well when I woke up this morning, I could barely move..."

At those turf wars, he was having a blast. After the first few games, River and Arden stopped being hostile towards him. With Artemis they were able to win a couple of games, and after that they had all exchanged numbers and agreed to meet up once again.

"Alright, Squid! You're going to have to spill it." Kale said, bringing Kelp back to reality. "How did you meet him? How did you know him, let alone get on the team."

Kelp just began to nervously laugh. He was secretly dreading this moment, and how he would probably have to endlessly repeat it throughout the day. "I was just at the right place at the right time, and we actually have two classes together, and... We sat beside each other in art." Kelp replied. "He's in our history class, he was the person who angered the teacher yesterday."

"What?!" Kale said rather surprised. "That's him!?"

Kelp just nodded. "Yeah."

"No way..." Kale replied. "I should have realized that he was new..."

"Well, in your defense, weren't you the one who said 'who cares about history? Who cares about the great Turf War? The Octarians are never coming back!' and you rarely pay attention to that class anyways." Kelp laughed.

"Well now I have a reason to pay attention." Kale replied. "Well, I guess I'll see you in second!"

With that, Kale ran off, and Kelp was left alone. He honestly dreaded this moment, at least if Kale was with him, he could try to brush people off. At least in the hallways people weren't stopping to talk to him. But as soon as he entered into his first period class he was suddenly bombarded by other inklings.

"How do you know Leviathan?" They would ask.

"Um, pure coincidence?" He would reply. His only hope was that both Ink and Ika were also going through something similar. He was also a bit nervous about Levi, now that the word was out, how was he getting around school. Was he drawing crowds?

First period was just slow and painful. He could hear the whispers traveling around the classroom. For the first time he really noticed just how uncomfortable the seats could be. How hard and solid they were. But eventually it ended. A few people stopped him in the halls to say congratulations, but nothing else, since they were most likely rushing to their second period class as well. When he got to his second period class, waiting outside the classroom was Levi. Inklings were passing him by, not paying any attention. There was the odd inkling that gave a 'wait, is that?' look, but they just continued on their way.

"Hey." Kelp said.

"Hey yourself."

"I'm surprised you're back here."

"Eh, don't really want to be. I kind of just wanted to meet up with you, and didn't know where you were coming from, so want to skip?" Levi laughed.

"Yeah, sure." Kelp said. He had already looked ahead. There was nothing important that they were going to learn in history today.

"Ah good." Levi said. "I'm glad, I can't say that I really wanted to go back into that class. I may transfer out to a different one..."

They quickly walked away before the teacher came and saw them. Quickly Kelp pulled out his cell phone, and texted Kale. "Hey, I'm skipping, want to meet up at the usual spot?"

The reply was almost instantaneous. "Yeah, sure."

"Here, follow me." Kelp said. He began to lead Levi through the hallways, until they eventually got back to Kelp's locker. Waiting right beside it was Kale.

Kale was just looking at Kelp a bit confused, and then at Levi. "Is that?"

"It is." Kelp replied. "Um, this is my friend Kale."

"Nice to meet you." Levi said.

"Kale, you know who this is, and don't say it out loud."

Kale just nodded. "It's nice to meet you too." He said.

The hallways became emptier and emptier, and then the second bell rang. There were a few inklings who just began to rush to their next class.

"So where do you want to go?" Kelp asked. "We normally go to a strip mall about a 5 minute walk away from here. The hall monitors at least don't bug us there."

"Well, I wanted to go and maybe get something to eat, but well, I think I need to talk to a few people first." Levi replied.

"Ah, okay, well, don't let me get in the way."

"No, you're included in the people I need to talk to Kelp." Levi said.

"Well don't mind me then." Kale sighed.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Kelp said. "I asked him to skip with us."

"He can come too." Levi said. "It's going to eventually be public knowledge anyways, so I see no reason to hide it." Kale seemed a bit relieved about that. "Follow me."

"Wait public knowledge?" Kelp said a bit confused.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." Levi replied. "Just follow me, and I'll explain everything."

Levi began to lead them through the hallways. Eventually leading them to the club room.

"Um should we really be here?" Kelp said.

"We're ranked members now, we have the right to be here as much as any other ranked member."

"Then what about me?" Kale wondered.

"Just get in there." Levi said as he forcefully pushed him in. Kelp followed behind and walked into the club room.

Kelp looked around a bit surprised. It somehow felt different this time. While he came here a few times before, mainly just to deliver his sister's lunch which she had forgotten, it always felt different. There was an intimidating air around the place. But now, that air seemed to have vanished. He just looked around, looking at the various posters that decorated the walls. Each moment he was questioning 'was that here yesterday?'. The only time his eyes actually froze and stayed focused on something was when he saw his sister sitting behind a desk.

"Why aren't you in class?" Naomi asked.

"I'm sorry sis, but Levi asked me to skip, and... Hey, wait, why aren't you in class. Second isn't your spare." Kelp said.

Naomi just let of a sigh. "Well, I was told to come here to the club room for some reason. Just remember when we get home, we're having a long talk because I want to know where you were and what you were doing last night. And need I remind you about your current school attendance."

"Can we save the sibling quarrel for later?" Levi said.

"Yeah, some of us would like to know why we're here." Ink added on.

Kelp just froze, trying to figure out if they had been in the room the whole time. "Yes, we've been here the whole time." Ika said.

"How did you know what I was thinking?!" Kelp said surprised.

"I wouldn't be a good charger if I couldn't figure out what my opponents were thinking." Ika replied. "Besides, it was written all over your face."

Kelp just nodded. "I see."

"Yeah, kid, if you ever think of being a charger. You have to put yourself in your opponents shoes, and think 'where are they going to run to next?'" Ika said. "The laser scope can only frighten them so much. If you can't predict and hit them, you're useless as a charger."

Kelp just nodded, he was intimidated by her. It was like she was looking through him.

"Just relax." Ink said patting Kelp on the back. Kelp just jumped away in surprise.

"What the!?" Kelp said. "When did you get right there?!"

Ink just laughed. "Oh, sorry. It's a bad habit I guess from the days I was a roller."

"You erase your presence, and attack from the shadows." Levi replied, with a huge grin on his face. "You are an old pro. I am so glad I came here! And of all the people I got to form a team with. This is great! If it's with you guys, it's possible!"

"And what do you mean by that?" Ika wondered.

Levi just sat down. His happy expression had faded. He just looked around the room. "Sit down." He said. Ink, Kelp, and Kale followed suit. "I called you all here because things are about to change here at Inkopolis Private Academy."

"And what do you mean by that?" Naomi asked.

"This blew up far more than I thought it would." Levi sighed.

"And?" Naomi asked.

"How do we move up in rankings?" Levi asked.

"Well, you have to wait a week until the next time you can participate in a battle." Naomi explained. "At most you can only go up two ranks, so from 9 to 7..."

There was just silence. "We have a month then." Levi said. "So we can move up by then."

"A month until what?" Kelp asked.

"The Regional School Tourney." Naomi said. "And if you're here for that, I just want you to all know, we only send our top three teams to this one. And the fourth ranked team would also be on standby."

"Okay."

"This can wait a while, but if you're also thinking about climbing ranks, if or when you get to the fifth rank here in the school, you're going to need two more people to be in your squad." Naomi said. "However, once you reach rank 5, you can only move up 1 rank at a time."

"This seems needlessly convoluted." Levi said.

"Also, as new team members, know that your attendance and grades are important." Naomi said. "If you're failing, or constantly skipping, you can and will be pulled from the team. So, Kepkep, you're going to have to stop skipping."

"Yes, right!" Kelp said rather nervous.

"That seems fair enough." Levi said. "Anyways, here is the reason why I called you all together. Last night I received a phone call from a former team mate in Apex."

* * *

The cell phone just began to ring. Levi just opened his eyes and cursed at it. He reached over at the bedside table and picked up the phone, and looked at the caller display. He cringed at the number. He was just going to send it to voicemail but decided he better actually answer it. It was better to get the pain out of the way now instead of ignoring it. The person on the other end wouldn't like it if he was ignored.

"Hello Cetus." Levi sighed.

"Oh, that was quick..." The inkling on the other end laughed. "Were you expecting this call?"

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting it this soon." Levi said. "But I probably should have known it was coming sooner. Especially with what I did to your brother's Squad."

"So you did know, and you challenged him anyways." Cetus replied.

"No, I wasn't the one who challenged him, I was just an innocent bystander who was there to go along with the ride." Levi replied.

"And what a ride it was. I saw that match Levi. It was trash. You left us to go play some kiddie games with them?"

"If by 'left' you mean kicked off and evicted by you guys, then yes." Levi replied.

Cetus ignored Levi's comment and just continued to talk. "I'm disappointed, I thought you were made of stronger stuff."

"I thought your brother would have been too." Levi replied.

"He will be dealt with accordingly, and soon know how to properly wield a roller. A grueling boot camp should do the trick, don't you think?"

Levi just froze. "He's your own brother! You would subject him to that hellish training?!"

"He's trash. Maybe he will actually be half decent when he comes back, unlike the inkling who left us."

"What crap are you spouting now? I left you? You must have some different recollection of the events than I do." Levi replied. "Besides, this isn't some game, this is war Cetus."

"War?" Cetus replied. "Levi, you have no idea what war is, what you're doing is petty revenge. You're fighting a battle that you can't win and you're dragging some idiots with you."

"Am I?"

"Not with that team. That charger didn't know what she was doing. And that other shooter was a complete and total noob. But that one shooter. Ink, now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time. He's doing well, that's nice to see."

"Why wouldn't he be doing well?" Levi asked.

Cetus just laughed. "Oh, you don't know anything at all, do you Levi? I don't know if it's what you intended, but your little action has got our attention."

Levi just lied there in silence.

"What's wrong? Stunned into silence?" Cetus wondered.

"No, I just really want to go back to sleep. And you're certainly boring me to that point." Levi muttered.

"Well, that's fine. Sleep while you can. Because we'll be waiting. And soon your peaceful days will be over. Consider this a warning, and your last chance to run away because the next time we talk, it won't be on friendly terms."

That was all that Cetus said before hanging up.

* * *

"The reason why I joined here was I figured it was my best bet in finding a squad that could help me enact my revenge against Apex." Levi replied.

"What?!" Kelp and Kale shouted out rather surprised.

"The reason I'm not with them any more is well, I was essentially kicked off by them." Levi replied.

"And was there a reason for that?" Ika said rather bluntly.

"Sort of." Levi replied. "'You are just supposed to go where I tell you, and do what I say. Nothing more, that is your role.' I wasn't allowed to be autonomous. And when I went and did my own thing, they perceived me as a threat."

"So, 'you're a pawn, when we tell you to run your response should be 'how far?' When we tell you to jump your response should be 'how high?'' That's it, right?" Naomi asked.

"Basically." Levi replied. "Apex and other teams are not happy places. Turf War has changed."

"Turf War has changed?" Kelp said a bit surprised.

Levi just nodded. "How much do you know about the Great Turf war 100 years ago?"

"That it was a battle between the Octarians and us the Inklings, for domination of land when rising sea levels were threatening to wipe out everyone." Naomi said.

Levi just nodded. "Yes. That was a turf war with a purpose. But now, they've been transformed into a spectator sport."

"And what's bad about that?" Kelp wondered.

"That in itself is fine, but, even that's changed now." Levi said. "It's no longer fun. You know what I'm talking about, don't you Kelp? Yesterday you showed your love for Turf Wars. You felt them in their purity after ours. You went and signed up."

Kelp just nodded. "Right!" he said.

"Turf Wars in the big leagues aren't like that." Levi said. "They're different... They're mechanical, so much that Turf War has become a well oiled machine."

"What do you mean by mechanical?" Ika asked.

"Everything is controlled." Levi replied. "Gear, clothes. Squad members are monitored. To the point that everything is rigged."

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

"It's not the Squad's fighting out there. It's the corporations. Professional Turf Wars are controlled down to who wins. It's decided by who gives the most money. That underdog story, or that team that had the bad opening to the season, and just barely hanged on. It's all orchestrated. It's a drama production, and the athletes are just actors, dealing with the script that they're given." Levi explained.

"But that's... insane!" Kelp said.

"If they do so, they get a nice hefty paycheck and after a few years can live the rest of their life in luxury." Levi said. "If they don't, well, you're tossed aside and forgotten about rather quickly. I got off rather easy, they didn't try to do a drug scandal on me."

"Wait what?" Ink said.

"Yeah, those scandals about drugs being found in the possession of inklings, and then they go into rehab for some addiction. Another part of the production." Levi replied. "They disobeyed orders and were thrown away. Their lives ruined in the process to set an example."

"That's just crazy." Ika said. "You'd need a large organization to do this and keep everything under wraps."

"They do." Naomi said. "It's called Central."

Everyone just looked at Naomi in shock. Even Levi was surprised. "I'm surprised you know about them."

"I'm the head of one of the highest ranked Turf War Clubs at a high school in the country." Naomi replied. "I need to know my stuff, even if I don't act like it."

"Well, Central isn't exactly all that well known, they are kind of more of a behind the scenes type. Really all I know about them just amount to rumors and gossip like theres this rumor that they are working to create genetically modified inklings, and make the perfect turf war team." Levi said. "But I'm sure you all know that's not a Turf War."

"A Turf War is never fair. It is an extremely cruel world." Ink said. "Inklings are never born equal, and accidents do happen. Sometimes they're even intentional."

Levi just nodded in agreement. "Thank you. So, that's why I'm here. I'm here to fight Turf Wars themselves and what they've become."

"By fighting in a school tournament?" Naomi said a bit bluntly. "Hate to break it to you, but we're kind of amateurs."

"I know." Levi replied. "But what makes you think that they won't be coming for you next? Condition them early so that they don't break the rules and fight against it. Who knows, maybe they all ready have their seeds here. They've been planted and are ready to grow."

"I'd say that would make sense."

"The professional world is rigged. We need to fight it. That's why I came here. I was going to eventually make a Squad."

"And you're plan is?" Naomi wondered.

"I'm going to keep winning Turf Wars, no matter what." Levi said. "Keep winning, moving up, and then enter the big leagues, and fight there. Reject their notion of what turf wars are, expose them, and win to break the cycle."

Naomi just sighed. "You think it will be that easy. Well, I'm interested in seeing where this is going, so I won't complain. But you're going to have to make your way through our club, and through our rules first."

"Of course." Levi said.

"Now then, if you excuse me, I actually have classes to attend. Kelp, you can skip this period, but this is the last straw." Naomi just got up and left the room.

"Of course." Kelp shouted out to her.

They just sat there in the room for several minutes trying to digest the information. Ink eventually stood up. "Levi, can I talk to you for a few minutes, alone?" He asked.

Levi just nodded. "Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with that. Kelp, Kale, you two don't mind?"

"No, not at all." Kelp said. "Actually if that's all, we're going to start our way to that strip mall."

"Ah okay, I'll catch up later then." Levi said.

The two just walked out of the room, and out of the school, slowly making their way down the street and to the strip mall. There was a pizza parlor there that they just went in and ordered a few slices of pizza. The two sat down at a table, and waited for Levi to join them. But he never came.

They had to return back to the school and resume their day.

For the rest of the day, all Kelp could really think about was what Levi had explained. When he finally saw him in art he decided that he had to know.

"I've been thinking about it all day, and I need to know. Is what you said the truth?" Kelp asked.

Levi just nodded. "It is. Hate to break it to you this way... Sorry squid, but it's all rigged."

Kelp just nodded. "To be honest, it doesn't surprise me. When watching it, the story lines were always sending red flags off in my head. Were they just that good at making things up on the spot? Were they hyping things up in the event of a massive pay off at the end, and just got lucky?"

Levi just nodded. "It's the truth, and yet, people eat it all up."

Kelp just nodded. "I can believe it." He said. "I mean I believed it myself."

The rest of art class they just payed attention to the teacher who was currently detailing some techniques for painting. "Now then, I have an announcement to make." The Teacher said. "We're going on a field trip to the Museum d'Alfonsino next week. Be sure to pick up a permission form on your way out of class today."

Everyone just groaned rather bored. "The only time that place is any interesting is during turf wars..." Someone said.

Levi couldn't help but laugh in agreement.

The bell rang, they picked up the permission form and then made their way out to club practice. Their exercises consisted of warming up, doing some laps around the school, before finally partaking in some mock turf wars. They just all had their names added into a hat and were randomly drawn into squads of four. Much to his dismay, Kelp wasn't paired with Levi, Ink, or Ika.

They however were rather attentive and watching from the bleachers. "He's improved since yesterday." Ika said.

Levi just nodded. "During art he said he was up past midnight doing turf wars."

"He doesn't want to let us down." Ink said.

"Looks like we better stay on our toes." Ika laughed. "We don't want to let him down."

After the mock turf war, Kelp made his way to the bleachers. Levi just threw him a water bottle, which he caught, and he began to drink. "Stay hydrated." Levi said. "You don't want to dry out."

"Right." Kelp said.

Levi just got up, as it was currently his turn. They continued through the various rotations and mock turf wars. Eventually club activities were over, and they were sent to the changing rooms to clean up and change back into whatever they were going to wear on their way home. However on the way to the changing rooms, Kelp saw Kale just leaning against a wall. Kelp just quickly rushed up to his friend.

"Kale, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I figured I'd stick around to walk you home and talk." Kale said. "It's not normal we get to walk home together. I'm normally back here doing club activities, you rush home to play Calamari of Duty."

"Oh yeah, that's right." Kelp laughed. "Although, I wasn't exactly going home."

"Oh?"

"The Battle Lobby." Kelp replied. "Club practice may be over, but I'm still far behind everyone else, and I don't want to be a liability to my team."

Kale just nodded. "Is what Levi said true?"

"Yeah, I talked to him during art." Kelp replied. "He insisted that what he said was true."

"You guys are going to need two more people to join the team if you reach rank five..." Kale said.

"Yeah, but I figure we've got a while until that time, so we'll worry about it then." Kelp replied. "I'm not sure if the others are thinking that, but I feel that my job is to focus on the here and now."

"That's fair." Kale replied. "You mind if I join you at the battle lobby?"

"You do turf wars?!" Kelp said rather surprised. "I didn't know that?!"

"Eh, there was a few birthday parties where we did turf wars." Kale replied. "But that's about the limit of my experience."

"Ah, okay." Kelp replied.

"But I'm willing to participate if you are." Kale said.

"Okay!" Kelp replied. "Well we can learn together, and watch over each others backs."

"Right." Kale said.

* * *

Kelp came in through the door, and waiting at the table in the kitchen was Naomi. She was drinking something. "You're earlier tonight." She said.

Kelp just looked up and smiled. "Yep. Well, you know it's a school night, and everything. And you made a big deal about me staying out late, and I guess I need to actually pay attention in class now if I want to continue club activities."

Naomi just laughed at her younger brother. "When did you get so responsible?" she wondered. "Well go get to bed, and I better not find you playing Calamari of Duty when you should be sleeping."

"Yeah of course, although, why are you up so late? Wait, did big bro Hydros call?"

"No sorry. I was just making sure you got back safely." Naomi replied.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me sis." Kelp said. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know you will be." Naomi said.

As Kelp went into the washroom Naomi just breathed a sigh of relief. "You're safe Kepkep, that's all that matters."

* * *

After Levi had made his announcements, Naomi had noticed someone looming outside the club room. She just excused herself, and made her way out of the club room and quickly did a sharp turn to enter into a stairwell to catch an older Inkling who was doing his best to try and appear like he just got to the top of the stairs.

"Coach Flynn, eavesdropping really doesn't fit you." Naomi said.

"Noami, what are you talking about?" Coach Flynn asked. "I just got here."

She pulled out a concealed inkbrush, assembling it and holding it out in front of her. "You can quit lying right now." She said.

"Naomi." Coach Flynn said. "You're a smart girl, you should know what they were just talking about is dangerous."

Naomi just stared at him. "So, did Central send you as well?"

"Naomi, you must understand what they are trying to do is crazy and dangerous. Maybe it would be best if you stopped your little brother. You don't know what might happen."

"Are you trying to threaten me?" Naomi said, the air around her suddenly became much colder, and the two just stared at each other.

"I would do no such thing..." Coach Flynn said.

Naomi just glared at him.

"I'm just here for your own protection, Naomi." Coach Flynn said. "You don't know how dangerous Central is. You should quit ahead of time, so your childish delusions don't get you into trouble. You who has no idea how the real world works."

Naomi swung the inkbursh and stabbed it forwards, narrowly missing his head. "Don't you dare talk to me about how the real world works." She snapped. "Especially if you actually are from Central!"

* * *

Naomi just took a sip of her drink. "As long as you are safe Kelp."

* * *

 **Notes:**

 **Don't really have any notes this time.**

 **Names:**

 **Hydros: Named after the greek primordial god.**

 **Flynn: There is no actual meaning behind this name. It was just the first thing that popped into my mind.**


	5. Chapter 3: Lunch

**A review pointed out that Flynn sounded like fin. Sure, I'll take it to continue the theme naming. XD**

* * *

Chapter 3: Lunch

It was Thursday morning. Kelp, Ink, Ika and Levi had decided to meet up and practice during the mornings to help get better acquainted with each others fighting style and prepare themselves for their next match next week. Currently they were all just taking a break.

"So you wanted to fight the ranked 7 team, SquidForce." Ink said.

Levi just nodded. "Yeah, I'll send the challenge tomorrow. Ink what do you know about them?"

"Not too much." Ink replied. "Just that they're closely knit friends that formed a squad."

"Maybe we could try and research them, and then get together during lunch and go over our opponents strategies and prepare for that." Kelp said.

"That sounds like a good plan, but unfortunately I've got to skip out on that. Sorry guys, but I've got a lunch date today." Levi said.

Everyone just looked at him a bit shocked. "What?" Kelp said surprised.

"Yeah. I'm just meeting up with some friends." Levi replied. "Besides, I thought your sister said that you weren't supposed to skip classes due to club activities."

Kelp just nervously began to laugh. "Well what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

"And you're paying us what to keep our mouths shut?" Ika wondered. "I've got a text ready to send to her."

"Wait, what?!" Kelp shouted out surprised.

"She told us to keep an eye on you," Ika replied. "Remember, if you're a liability we can kick you off of our squad. And if your disobeying orders and responsibilities by skipping, who's to say what you will do during a match? I think that's pretty much the definition of a liability."

Kelp just sulked. "Point taken." he said.

Ink looked down at his watch. "We have 15 minutes before the bells ring..." he said "Listen, Levi, there's something you should probably know about when you issue a challenge."

Levi just glanced over at Ink. "And that is?"

"When the challenge is issued, the team that is challenged gets to choose the stage." Ink said. "And here at Inkopolis Private Academy we have three stages. Guppy Gardens, which was the one we had all ready fought on and have been training with."

"But the other two?" Levi wondered. "Why haven't I heard of them?"

"Well, this stuff is normally explained when you first join the club. But, all things considered, we were just thrown together and well, I guess Naomi wanted us to figure it out for ourselves." Ika said.

"Or she didn't want to do it, and figured Ink would explain it all anyways." Kelp replied. Everyone just glanced over at him. "It was a Monday, she has a bit of a bad habit being really lazy on Mondays."

"Well, if she did want me to explain everything then you better follow me." Ink said as he began to walk away. The other inklings followed and they made the way into a forest that was beside the school. "This stage is SquidForce's preferred stage. Fangtooth Forest."

They soon came across a place that one would be more inclined to call a combination of a jungle gym, and tree houses rather than a turf war stage. There were two tiers. The forest floor had next to no protection beyond the odd tree. And then there was up above. Tree houses, wooden bridges, and many other things were there. Swinging logs, swinging tires.

"Looks kind of fun!" Kelp laughed.

"Chargers clearly have the advantage here." Ika said. "Long narrow pathways, great vantage points."

"Right." Levi said. "But there are ways around. And you can climb up the trees too."

"Okay." Kelp said, trying to mentally note it down.

"And if you're slow, or have Ninja Squid as an ability, you can easily make more trouble for chargers. They won't be able to see you moving in the ink." Ika said. "But Chargers aren't stupid."

"So, if SquidForce prefers this stage, are they all chargers?" Kelp wondered.

"No." Ink replied. "Although to be honest, I don't know what they all are... They constantly switch between weapons. I'd say they are a jack of all trades, master of none group."

"Which in many ways is scarier..." Levi said.

"Especially since between rounds, we can switch weapons." Ink said. "Beyond home team advantage, against a group that has only used 1 set of weapons, they've got quite the big advantage."

"And how do we counter that?" Kelp wondered.

"Isn't it obvious?" Ika wondered. "We're not inklings who dedicated ourselves to only a single weapon. I use chargers and shooters, Ink uses shooters and can use rollers."

"Not frequently though." Ink replied.

"My specialty is the rollers, but I also have a soft spot for splatlings." Levi laughed.

Kelp just suddenly looked around at his teammates and felt rather self conscious. "What about me?" He asked. "I've only used shooters so far... Should I try to use something else?"

"Well, I'd say we'll worry about that later, when we have more time." Ink replied. "Right now I think you should just learn how to use your shooter to the best of your ability, and then we can talk about you getting a secondary weapon."

Kelp just nodded. "Okay."

"So, what's the third stage?" Levi asked.

"Follow me." Ink said.

He just led them all back into the school and down a dark and abandoned corridor that very few students dared to tread. There was a door, and Ink just opened it. On the other side was stairs that led down to the basement. They went down the stairs. They were immediately greeted with what appeared to be the storage for a bunch of old things along with some boilers. But Ink just moved further to the back. Eventually there was two large doors. Written above it was the words "Deep-sea Dive"

"This is our final stage."

They walked in and saw that two other teams were currently having a practice Turf war there.

Although, Kelp couldn't help but think that practice was the wrong word. It was like he had entered into a different world. Even out there from the observation area that they were in, he could feel a constant pressure pushing down on him.

"What is this place?" Kelp muttered beginning to shake.

He could see the signs of a turf war in progress, such as various crates being inked and inklings moving, but he couldn't hear anything. It was as though he had suddenly gone deaf. He felt alone.

He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Levi. "You okay?" Levi mouthed.

Ink just motioned for them to leave, and Kelp was rather happy to oblige. As they exited sound seemed to return.

"What was that place?" Kelp asked, "is it even in our school?"

"Yes." Ink replied. "That was Deep-Sea Dive."

"How did it just go silent?" Levi asked.

"I don't know the specifics." Ink replied. "But, when I asked, I was told it was soundproofing and some expensive sound system." Ink just took them to a map that was on the wall of the course. "Here's the layout."

They just looked over it. Eventually they realized how close it was to the first bell and went back to the change rooms. Kelp, Ink, and Levi entered into the change room and just began to change. Levi was rather quick with putting on his uniform. "Sorry, but I'll see you guys later! I've got something to do." He said, before bolting out of the change room. Both Kelp and Ink just glanced at each other a bit surprised. Eventually they got their uniforms on and walked out into the hallway where Ika was waiting.

"You didn't have to wait, sis." Ink quickly said.

"Well, there was one thing I wanted to talk to Levi about." Ika replied.

"Unfortunately, he had changed and ran out super quickly. He said he had something to do." Ink replied.

Ika just nodded. "Well, I guess I'll just text him, or talk to him about it at practice then."

"Yeah." Ink muttered, he glanced over at Kelp who appeared to be deep in thought. "Hey, Kelp, is something wrong?"

"Wrong? No, not really." Kelp replied.

"Then why are you so deep in thought?" Ink wondered.

"Um, well, I was just kind of curious about Levi, I guess." Kelp laughed. "Who he's meeting up with, and what he's doing. Despite being teammates he's being rather secretive, don't you think?"

"Being teammates isn't exactly a license to know every minor detail of their lives." Ika said. "We all need our privacy."

Kelp just nodded. "I guess." he meekly replied. "But with everything he's told us, his personal life hasn't exactly been one of those details. Are we just supposed to blindly follow him and entrust our lives to him when it looks like he doesn't trust us?"

"So you want to invade his privacy, and destroy his trust that he does have of us?" Ika wondered. "Oh yeah, that sounds like a wonderful plan! There is no possible way that can backfire!"

Ink just glanced up at his sister. He was used to her rather sarcastic remarks. Kelp though, he looked like he was just about to be on the verge of tears. "Hey, tell you what. How about I follow him?" Ink suggested. "He won't notice me, and I've got the same lunch."

Kelp just glanced at his teammate. "Really, you'd do that?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Kelp said. "Please do!"

Ika just looked at her brother. "Why?" She questioned.

"Eh, I'm a bit curious about the life of our teammate." Ink laughed. "We're not all like you, where you think they're on a need to know basis."

Ika just let off a sigh. "Well, fine get yourselves in trouble with him. See if I care." She walked away to attend her first class.

The two inkboys just laughed. "All right, I'll let you know through texts. Okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Kelp said.

* * *

The first lunch period had started and Ink rushed to his locker. He quickly took off the uniform jacket and put a hoodie on. He reached into his locker and pulled out a case. In the event he was caught, he would just say that he was on his way to check out some things and get a tune up at Ammo Knights, which wasn't entirely a lie, he did intend on doing that, and would if he had any time left over at finding what Levi was doing.

He quickly rushed out of the school and began to look out for Levi. It wasn't long until he saw Levi exiting the school and beginning to walk away. Ink just followed him at a distance and into the city. It wasn't long until Levi had gone into a cafe.

Ink just cringed. "This place is too expensive." He muttered. "Who the hell is he meeting up here!?"

The Cafe was a rather upscale one, and it was known for serving various celebrities. It was also known for being rather exclusive. You had to be at least an A rank, or be with an A rank in order enter. Ink just pulled out his cell phone and scanned it by a nearby NFC scanner.

Reluctantly he went in and just found an empty seat where he could see Levi. The cafe had numerous mirrors along the walls to make it seem bigger than it actually was.

A few minutes passed, and Levi was constantly glancing down at his cellphone. Ink was just about to give up hope when suddenly through the front door entered two female inklings and a third much younger inkling that Ink was unable to tell the gender of. One had black hair, and was wearing a blue and yellow striped shirt, and had a red and purple baseball cap covering the top of her hair.

The other had light green hair, she was wearing a green knit cap, and a green jacket.

The third small inkling was wearing a baseball cap that was hiding his white hair. He had a white hoodie and currently had the hood up to try and hide away from others.

They just walked over to the table Levi was at.

"Long time no see Levi!" One of them said.

"It's nice to see you both again." Levi said. "Is this your younger brother that I've heard so much about?"

"Yep." the one in green said.

They sat down at the table, and just ordered food. Ink also did the same. He occasionally glanced at a mirror to watch them, to see if they were doing any signs and communicating that way, but nothing. At the same time, Ink couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen the two female inklings somewhere before.

Their conversations seemed completely mundane.

"So, you've been enjoying your new school?"

"It hasn't even been a week yet." Levi sighed.

"And you've all ready began stirring up trouble."

"Unfortunately..." Levi sighed.

"You look so cute in that uniform."

"Really?" Levi questioned. "Because it's so hard to breath in."

"It actually makes you look a bit mature." The other said. "Must be catching some people off guard when you're real personality comes out."

"I don't think so, everyone else is stuck in this same ugly suit."

Ink just sat there and continued listening to their conversation, they seemed really close. Were they former classmates?

"Heard you joined the turf war club there." One of the female inklings said.

Levi just nodded. "Yeah, it kind of blew up and was on the news and all that. Sorry, I know how you feel about celebrity gossip."

The two just laughed.

Meanwhile, Ink could feel his cell phone vibrating. He pulled it out and saw numerous texts from Kelp. "What's going on, did you lose him?"

Ink just laughed. He felt like humoring Kelp a little bit. "It looks like he met up with some people from his previous school." he texted. "One of them may be a possible girlfriend. They're just talking about how the new school has treated him, and the turf war club, nothing important."

The texts back from Kelp vanished. Ink imagined that Kelp probably was almost caught texting in class, or he was satisfied with that update for now. Food came, and Ink began to eat his sandwich. Levi, and the two female inklings also got their food and began to eat. They continued to talk while eating, but nothing of major importance was said.

When Ink finished his food, he glanced over at the desert menu. The cafe was known for having a rather large selection of cakes. The young inkling in the hoodie seemed enamored with the cake display. Ink eventually ordered a tiramisu cake.

After he finished it, he was getting ready to walk up to pay the bill. Silently weeping that it would put a huge dent into his spending money for this month. When suddenly something happened.

"Marie, I knew it was you." A voice suddenly said. Everything in the cafe suddenly went dead silent. And walking towards the table Levi and the two female Inklings were at was a rather creepy looking inkling. "You finally got my messages. And you came here, but who's this?"

Ink suddenly realized where he had seen the two before. They were the squid sisters, not in their normal garb, and their hair wasn't done up normally, but it was undoubtedly them.

"Crap."

"One of our stalkers..."

"You were supposed to be pure for me... But he's probably tainted you..."

As the person was walking past Ink's table, Ink quickly stuck out his foot tripping him. Ink reached for the case that was beside him, and quickly pulled out his roller, just quickly snapping it together and putting it right down by his neck.

"Don't move." was all Ink said.

The inkling seemed absolutely terrified. "You, you're allowing this scandalous act to happen, you're my enemy! Keeping my true love Marie away from me!" He pulled out a concealed knife and swung it. Ink quickly jumped back to avoid the attack, and countered by quickly extended the roller and pined him against the wall, with enough force to cause him to drop the knife. Several employees had come to restrain the attacker, along with an officer that was patrolling outside.

Ink just let off a heavy sigh. The next thing he knew was that there was an arm wrapped around his neck, and someone was leaning against him.

"Geeze, looks like we're going to be late for classes, huh Ink?" Levi said.

"Is that what I get for just saving you?" Ink wondered.

Levi just laughed. "I guess, since I somehow doubt you were just conveniently in the same place. You think I wouldn't have noticed you following me?"

Ink just sighed. "Well you caught me red handed."

Levi just nodded. "But as a thanks for saving me, I won't pry into it. Besides, I told you guys straight up that I was meeting with some friends."

"Guess you weren't lying when you said you knew the Squid Sisters." Ink said.

"Come on over, I'll introduce you." Levi said.

Ink followed, and they got to the table where the squid sisters were currently sitting. "Well, since the whole restaurant knows now, Ink, this is Callie and Marie of the Squid Sisters. And then there is Marie's little brother, Jacob. Everyone this is Ink, he's one of my classmates and current teammate for the squad."

Jacob was the rather young Inkling, he was currently just hugging Marie, hoping that she would protect him from the stranger.

Ink was rather surprised. The growing stages of Inklings was rather infamous for being a bit weird, and they didn't actually reach their current forms until around 13 or 14 years old. There was occasionally someone who was able to control their solid form earlier, such as 11 or 12. However there was about a 1 in 100,000 who could control their solid form so well at the age of 8.

"How old is he?" Ink asked.

"Nine." Marie replied.

Ink just nodded. "I see. You're very talented if you can control your solid form at this age. High five." Ink just raised his hand and Jacob complied.

They sat and talked for a few minutes, at least until another Inkling had approached them. He was dressed in a suit, and looked to be about 20 years old.

"Excuse me." He said.

"Sorry, we're not doing autographs right now."

"Actually, I wanted to talk to the inkling with the roller." the person said.

Ink looked up a bit shocked. "Me?" He said trying to confirm.

"Yeah, I just wanted to applaud you for your quick thinking and acting." He said.

"Oh, it was nothing..." Ink said

Levi had been staring at the person for the past little while, trying to place where he had seen him before. Suddenly it clicked. "Wait a second, I recognize you!" He said. "You're Hydros the Lone Wolf!"

The inkling looked a bit shocked. "Oh, I guess I've been found out."

"Please sit down." Levi said.

"Oh no, I shouldn't impose." Hydros said.

"I insist, don't worry about it." Levi said. "Besides, we probably have to wait here until another cop comes in for us to fill out the incident report."

"Ah, I see, I guess that's fair." Hydros sighed.

Hydros just sat down. He was an S+ ranked inkling who had gained a reputation for never sticking with squad for very long. He always just drifted on. In matches, he never showed any semblance of team work, not that he actually needed it, as he would cut through his opponents without mercy. It was rumored that if he was alone in a turf war against 1000 inklings, he would still manage to win. But seeing him in real life was a bit underwhelming. He was soft spoken, shy, and seemed easily pressured into doing things.

They just talked about various things. It wasn't long until another cop was in the cafe, asking them to fill out an incident report, and just state the various details of what happened. When that was done and they handed in the incident report, they just all sat back down again.

"I'm sorry, but I know you said no autographs, but my kid brother really likes the Squid Sisters. And well, he just got into turf wars earlier this week. And I missed his first fight too. I'm a horrible big brother."

"Well, I think we can do it now." Callie said. "In return for an interview of course." Hydros was also a bit infamous for shying away from interviews. Some thought it added to the cool and mysterious personality.

"Okay, fair's fair." Hydros laughed. "I'll do that for him."

"So, on that note of turf wars Ink, I've already arranged for our next match. We're going to have our next ranking match Monday."

"Oh goody." Ink sighed. "Still against SquidForce?"

"Yep."

Ink just nodded. "Okay."

"They have the weekend to prepare, but so do we." Levi said.

"Yeah." Ink said.

"Excuse me for intruding, but, your squad?" Hydros said.

"Oh, our squad at school in the Turf War club." Levi replied. "At Inkopolis Private Academy. We're called Scorpion Joystick."

Hydros just let out a small chuckle.

"Is it too late to change the name?" Ink wondered. "Even he thinks it's stupid."

"Oh, no, I'm laughing about something else." Hydros said.

"Well I guess we can ask Naomi, but she's probably going to say no." Levi laughed.

They got up to leave. Much to their surprise Hydros paid for all three of the bills. "Well thank you very much, I shall contact you about the interview."

"Of course." Callie said.

They left the cafe. However from out of the shadows the deranged inkling jumped out. He had somehow escaped the police. "Marie, I won't let you go. You're mine, and only mine!"

Hydros just pulled out a concealed inkbrush that was in his suit jacket and slashed right through them. Causing the inkling to just fall on the ground writhing in pain. "I'm sorry you had to see that." Hydros quickly apologized. "Go, I'll explain what happened."

"Right of course." Callie said.

They walked away. Several blocks later they were about to split up. "So we shall see you around, Levi?" Marie asked.

"Yeah, I'll come visit some time then."

"Gramps said that he's been noticing some movement." Callie said.

Levi just nodded.

"So watch your back."

"I normally do." Levi replied.

"It was nice meeting you Ink." Marie said. "We'll be cheering on your squad."

"Of course, thank you!"

"Well, I guess we're going to be late now." Levi laughed.

Ink just smiled. "Yeah. That's fine I guess. It was a rather eventful lunch period after all. Now, I don't know if you want to really talk about it, but... Hydros."

"What about him?" Levi wondered.

"Where does he fit into your story about Turf Wars being controlled?" Ink asked.

Levi just shrugged. "No idea." He replied. "If I had to guess, he's a wild card, and they can't do anything about him. Anyways, I've been meaning to ask, why did you have a roller?" Levi asked.

"I've been thinking about what you've said." Ink replied. "And well, I feel like I need to get back to full power. I may not be able to use all the rollers like I used to, but the carbon roller is light enough I won't strain and hurt myself."

Levi just nodded.

"I actually did intend on going to Ammo Knights to see if I can get it adjusted, or if there are changes that can be made so that it's a bit more ergonomic." Ink explained.

"I see." Levi replied. "So, going forwards do you think we should each have two specialties?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Well in multiple matches, we can switch our weapons, or if people are scouting us, we can change our weapons before the match." Levi explained. "If they prepared for one thing, and got another, then well that would be an advantage, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah that makes sense."

"Well, why don't we bring it up to Ika and Kelp." Levi said. "Although, Kelp is really the only one who would have to work on it."

Ink just nodded in agreement. "But he's a quick learner, so he should be fine."

They got back to the school. It was currently a different lunch period. All ready though they were hearing talk of the person who attacked the Squid Sisters.

"To be honest, I don't feel like standing out right now." Levi said.

"Same." Ink sighed. "I'm going to find some secluded corner in the club room and hide. And then find out how much is all ready in the rumor mill."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Levi replied.

* * *

Hydros had finished explaining what happened to the cop that was on patrol. "Sorry about that." The cop said. "It seems that the cop that was escorting him back, was attacked, and he was freed by someone."

Hydros just nodded. "I see, can you tell me where the cop was attacked?"

He was pointed to the direction of an alleyway. Hydros just walked through it. He just looked around, and soon saw a few cops around the one that had been attacked.

"Thankfully the wound is shallow..." One said.

"Yeah." The cop that was attacked said.

Hydros however just looked around. " _No, that wasn't an attack. No one in their right mind would go down here. They would have waited for a car, or backup to escort the inkling away. It was all set up. Now is the real person still here?_ " He began to scan the area, looking for someone or something that seemed out of place. He soon saw them on the roof of the building right above them. Hydros wasted no time, just quickly jumping up, and climbing up the emergency fire escape.

He soon got to the roof, and saw an Inkling who was making no attempt to flee. "Hydros, I wasn't expecting you." He was dressed in just casual clothes. There was nothing that could conceal a weapon

"Cetus. What was the meaning of this?"

Cetus just shrugged. "I was just trying to give a warning to an old friend. That his little path of revenge is not going to be tolerated."

Hydros just clenched his fist. "I would stop you right now if I could."

"But you can't!" Cetus laughed. "Central just thinks of me as their little darling. Their obedient little puppet. Just like you. Now if you excuse me, I think we both have jobs to do."

Cetus just began to walk away, leaving Hydros alone on the roof of the building. He just pulled out a cell phone. "Hey, it's me. Is it too late to book time off for this weekend? I want to spend some time with my little brother and sister. Thanks."

* * *

 **Well that was a quick update...**

 **Notes and Names and where they come from:**

 **Stage Names: Guppy Gardens, Fangtooth Forest, Deep-sea Dive - I wanted to continue with the Alliteration from the game... (Which is only with Urchan Underpass, Walleye Warehouse, and Piranha Pit... 3 stages out of the 16) And then continue the having a type of fish, or aquatic term with a location to have the name of a stage. Guppy and Fangtooth are types of fish, and well Deep-sea diving should be self explanatory.  
**

 **Jacob: there's no real meaning behind this name. At least no aquatic based meaning. It just came from going down a list of names and I went "Okay that one" and pointed at a random name. I was debating about changing it to Ishmael (the name of the narrator of Moby-Dick) or Jonah (in Judaism & Christianity, the name of a prophet who was swallowed by a whale/fish). I kind of wanted to but Ishmael really stood out of place next to Marie, as for Jonah, I just didn't like it. Jacob just really grew on me from it's spot as a placeholder name. Maybe I'll use those names later...  
**

 **Also I don't really no why I had a hard time with debating if I should switch it to keep up the theme naming, when in the next chapter, I have a whole squad of people who throw off the aquatic theme naming.**


End file.
